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The Broken Covenant 

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. . . AND ... VO 

The Book of the Law. 










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LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two COPtes ribcaveu 

MAY 10 iyu5 

Cowm^ni entry 
CLASS ^ XXC. N« f 
COPY 8. 



Copyright, 1905, 



C. C. KELLY. 



B. SAVAOE PRESS, CLEVELAND 



THE BROKEN COVENANT 



AND 



THE BOOK OF THE LAW. 



CHAPTER I. 

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and 
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness ; that the man of God 
may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good 
works." 

In the light of the above statement to the church, 
by the great Apostle to the Gentiles, the writer of the 
following pages will reverently endeavor to point out 
some "scriptures given by inspiration," the bearing 
of which, so far as he is aware, has hitherto been 
unnoticed. It is not the desire of the writer to attempt 
to set forth any new line of truth except as the same 
may be fully supported by the scriptures. He makes 
no claim whatever to accuracy, either as to literary 
style or even grammatical construction. If he can 
succeed in making himself understood, he will have 
accomplished all he can hope for on that line. To 
explain in advance the leading thoughts of this little 
book would perhaps consume more time than is neces- 
sary to that end, and more than the reader would care 
to give to such an explanation. Therefore the writer 



4 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law 

will at once proceed to the subject, explaining as he 
proceeds, and leaving the reader with only such 
information in advance as the title of the book may 
suggest or imply. 

In the 26th chapter of Leviticus, verses 18, 21, 24 
and 28, we read of the final punishment of "Seven 
times," to be inflicted on Israel in the event that the 
lesser punishments spoken of in this chapter fail to 
produce the desired effect ; that is, to reclaim Israel 
from idolatry. These "Seven times," it is believed by 
by many, refer to the "Times of the Gentiles" spoken 
of by our Lord in the book of Luke, chapter 21, 
verse 24 : "And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of 
the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." 
The Times of the Gentiles, it is believed by many, refer 
to a period of 2,520 years , reaching from the 
downfall of the kingdom of Judah in the days of 
Zedekiah, the last king, to the final setting up of the 
kingdom of God. In other words, the "Seven times" 
of Leviticus 26, and the "Times of the Gentiles" as 
spoken of by our Lord in the book of Luke, both refer 
to one and the same event, the time of Gentile dominion 
intervening between the downfall of the typical king- 
dom, or kingdom of Israel, and the establishment of the 
Antitype, or kingdom of God. Preceding all the 
punishments mentioned in the above named chapter of 
Leviticus, greater and lesser, we read in verses 14 and 
15 and part of 16, as follows: "But if ye will not 
hearken unto me, and will not do all these command- 
ments, and if ye shall despise my statutes, or if your 
soul abhor my judgements, so that ye will not do all 
my commandments, but that ye break my covenant, I 
also will do this unto you." Then follows all the 
punishments spoken of in the chapter. Note also in 
verse 25: "And I will bring a sword upon you, that 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 5 

shall avenge the quarrel of my covenant." It will be 
noticed that the breaking of the covenant is the one 
great and dominant offense leading to the infliction of 
all the punishments spoken of in the chapter. The 
breaking of the covenant, therefore, marks an impor- 
tant crisis in the history of Israel. If the time when 
the covenant was broken can be scripturally pointed 
out, that would show the beginning of all the punish- 
ments mentioned in the chapter, because they were to 
follow as a result of the breaking of the covenant. 

The "Seven times" or "Times of the Gentiles" 
would follow after the lesser punishments were in- 
flicted. What are we to understood by the words, 
"that ye break my covenant" ? Leeser's translation of 
verse 15 is as follows : "And if my statutes ye despise, 
and if my ordinances your soul loath, so as not to do 
all my commandments, in that ye break my covenant." 
Young's translation reads : "So as not to do all my 
commands to your breaking my covenant." The 
words "in that ye break," or, "to your breaking," would 
seem to indicate the thought of forbearance; that the 
Lord would not consider the covenant as broken with- 
out great provocation; but, if Israel would persist in 
a course of idolatry, the time would come when the 
forbearance of the Lord would cease and the covenant 
be adjudged as broken. In numerous places in the 
scriptures we are informed of warnings regarding 
the breaking of the covenant. In some places it is 
referred to as "forsaking the covenant." In some 
places it is spoken of as "transgressing the covenant." 
We understand these different words to refer to one 
and the same event, to the time when the covenant 
would finally be adjudged as broken. According to the 
Concordance, to break means "to break off." To 



6 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

forsake means "to leave off." To transgress the 
covenant, "to pass over." 

It may be said that Israel broke, forsook, or trans- 
gressed the covenant as often as they fell into idolatry, 
and this is true; but the question is as to when the 
Lord adjudged it as broken. The breaking, forsaking 
or transgression of the covenant was an offense against 
the law, and therefore in order to comply with the law 
a trial must be held. This thought implies that, in the 
event that Israel broke the covenant, a trial would be 
instituted against them on account of the offense, and 
this, as we will endeavor to show, was true. The 
covenant was certainly broken by Israel, because the 
Lord informed Moses that they would break it. Also, 
some nine hundred years after the days of Moses, the 
Lord informed the prophet Jeremiah that they had 
broken it. We will now endeavor to show how and 
when it was broken, or rather, how and when it was 
adjudged as broken. 

Beginning at the first verse of the 29th chapter of 
Deut., we have an account of the covenant made in the 
land of Moab, which covenant, we are informed, was 
"beside the covenant which he made with them in 
Horeb." 

Israel is here exhorted to observe and do all the 
commands of the Lord ; to keep inviolate the covenant. 
After recounting all the goodness and mercy of the 
Lord, as manifested toward Israel throughout the wil- 
derness journey, they are informed as follows (verse 
10) : "Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your 
God ; captains of your tribes, your elders, and your 
officers, with all the men of Israel, your little ones, 
your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from 
the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water ; 
that thou shouldest enter into covenant with the Lord 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 7 

thy God, and into his oath, which the Lord thy God 
maketh with thee this day ; that he may establish thee 
today for a people unto himself, and that he may be 
unto thee a God, as he has said unto thee, and as he 
hath sworn unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, 
and to Jacob." 

Having entered into covenant with the Lord, and 
into his oath, they are next warned of the result to 
follow in case of their apostacy, and, in the event that 
they fail to keep the covenant. In verses 20, 21 and 27, 
they are informed that, "all the curses that are written 
in this book'"' would come upon them if they failed to 
keep the covenant. The revised version, referring to 
the above verses 20 and 27, reads "all the curse written 
in this book." The "curse" to come upon them was, 
as seems evident in verse 27, the desolation of the land. 
See verse 27 : "Therefore the anger of the Lord was 
kindled against this land, to bring upon it all the curse 
that is written in this book." The "curse," therefore, 
seems to refer to one particular curse, the desolation of 
their land. In immediate connection with the curse 
here referred to, we are informed of the desolation of 
the land that would result in the event of their failure 
to keep the covenant. See verses 22, 23 and 24: "So 
that the generation to come of your children that shall 
rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from 
a far land, shall sav, when they see the plagues of that 
land, and the sicknesses which the Lord hath laid upon 
it; and that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and 
salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor 
any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of 
Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the 
Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath. Even 
all nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done 
thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this 



8 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laic. 

great anger?" In answer to the question of verse 24, 
see verse 2o : "Then men shall say, Because they have 
forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, 
etc." 

Here we are informed of what the men of some 
future generation will say in answer to the question as 
to what had caused the desolation of their land. The 
question above asked, in connection with the answer 
thereto, clearly constitutes a prophecy of events that 
would be true in the days when their land was made 
desolate. The desolation of the land would be caused 
by the fact that they had forsaken the covenant. Let 
us imagine two men, one a native of the holy land and 
the other a stranger, meeting each other amid the ruins 
of Jerusalem after the fall of the kingdom in the days 
of King Zedekiah, and after the beginning of the deso- 
lation of the land. 

The stranger, addressing the native, enquires, 
"Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? 
What meaneth the heat of this great anger?" In 
reply to this question the native answers, "Because 
they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of 
their fathers." 

Such a conversation as this, in substance, it is here 
in the days of Moses prophesied, would take place in 
the days when the land would be desolate. And, for 
the reason that they had forsaken the covenant, we 
may imagine the native, above referred to, saying in 
further answer to the question he had been asked by 
the stranger, and in order to explain the results that 
followed the breaking of the covenant, (verse 28): 
"And the Lord rooted them out of their laud in anger, 
and in wrath, and in great indignation, and cast them 
into another land, as it is this day." 

Here, then, is a prophecy of conditions that would 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 9 

be true in the days when the land was to be made 
desolate. The desolation would be a fact because they 
had broken, or forsaken, the covenant; and, for the 
reason that they had forsaken the covenant, they were 
to be rooted out of their land. 

Now, it must follow that, as the covenant was surely 
broken, Israel was surely ''rooted out" of their land. 
Also, that all the results that were to follow the break- 
ing, of the covenant must have been fulfilled. 

Keep in mind the thought that Israel was to be 
rooted out of their land because they had broken the 
covenant. If it can be scripturally shown that they 
were rooted out of their land, and if the time when 
the rooting out process began can be shown, then it 
follows that at or prior to that time they had broken 
the covenant. The breaking of the covenant was the 
cause, and the "rooting out" was the effect, according 
to the terms of this prophecy. Therefore, we may 
certainly know, if the effect is found, that the cause 
has preceded it. It might be possible, and may be 
probable, that the breaking of the covenant took place 
at some considerable time before the "rooting out" 
process began, but the breaking of the covenant could 
not have taken place after the beginning of the rooting 
out process. 

To assume that the covenant was broken after the 
beginning of the process of rooting out would reverse 
the law of cause and effect. 

Other scriptures conveying this same thought, that 
they were to be rooted out of their land if the covenant 
was broken, will now be pointed out. 

From the days of Moses down to the days of Jere- 
miah they were repeatedly warned against the breaking 
of the covenant. In the 26th chapter of Leviticus, as 
we have before seen, they were threatened with many 



10 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

punishments to come upon them in the event that they 
broke the covenant ; and, among the punishments there 
mentioned, they were warned that they would be 
expelled from their land as one of the results of break- 
ing the covenant. See Deut. 4 : 25 and 26 : "When thou 
shalt beget children, and children's children, and ye 
shall have remained long in the land, and shall corrupt 
yourselves, and make a graven image, or the likeness 
of any thing, and shall do evil in the sight of the Lord 
thy God, to provoke him to anger ; I call heaven and 
earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon 
utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over 
Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days 
upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed." See also 
Deut. 28 : 63 : "And ye shall be plucked from off the 
land whither thou goest to possess it." See Deut. 
30 : 17 and 18 : "But if thine heart turn away, so that 
thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and wor- 
ship other gods, and serve them ; I denounce unto you 
this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall 
not prolong your days upon the land whither thou 
passest over Jordan to go to possess it." 

Joshua, when old and about to die, gave them the 
following parting admonition concerning the breaking 
of the covenant and being rooted out of their land. 
See Joshua 23 : 16 : "When ye have transgressed the 
covenant of the Lord your God, which he commanded 
you, and have gone and served other gods, and have 
bowed yourselves to them, then shall the anger of the 
Lord be kindled against you, and ye shall perish 
quickly from off the good land which he hath given 
unto you." 

In I Kings, 14 : 15, we read of punishments to come 
upon the house of Jeroboam because of their idolatry : 
"For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. II 

in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this 
good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall 
scatter them beyond the river, because they have made 
their groves, provoking the Lord to anger." 

In the days of King Solomon, when the house of 
the Lord had been completed, the warning in regard 
to their idolatry and the breaking of the covenant, with 
the results to follow, was again repeated. 

See I Kings 9 : 6 to 10 : "But if ye shall at all turn 
from following me, ye or your children, and will not 
keep my commandments and my statutes which I have 
set before you, but go and serve other gods, and 
worship them ; then will I cut off Israel out of the land 
which I have given them ; and this house which I have 
hallowed for my name will I cast out of my sight; 
and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all 
the people ; and at this house, which is high, every one 
that passeth by it shall be astonished, and shall hiss ; 
and they shall say, Why hath the Lord done thus unto 
this land and to this house? And they shall answer, 
Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought 
forth their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and have 
taken hold upon other gods, and have worshipped 
them, and served them; therefore hath the Lord 
brought upon them all this evil." 

See also, II Chron. 7 : 19 to 22 : "But if ye turn 
away, and forsake my statutes and my commandments, 
which I have set before you, and shall go and serve 
other gods, and worship them; then will I pluck them 
up by the roots out of my land which I have given 
them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my 
name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it 
a proverb and a byword among all nations. And this 
house, which is high, shall be an astonishment to every 
one that passeth by it ; so that they will say, Why hath 



12 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the !.■ 

the Lord done thus unto this land and unto this house? 
And it shall be answered, Because they forsook the 
Lord God of their fathers, which brought them fortli 
out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on other gods, 
and worshipped them, and served them ; therefore hath 
he brought all this evil upon them." See Jeremiah 
'l'l : 8 and 9 : "And many nations shall pass by this city, 
and they shall say every man to his neighbor, Where- 
fore hath the Lord done thus unto this great city? 
Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken 
the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped 
other gods and served them." Also, see Jer. 16 : 9 to 14. 

Having seen that Israel was to be "rooted out" of 
their land in case they broke the covenant, and having 
seen that the covenant was broken at some time in their 
after history because the Lord said that they would 
break it, and that they did break it (see Deut. 31: 16 
and Jer. 11: 10), we now enquire when was the cove- 
nant broken? or when did the process of rooting them 
out of their land begin? If we find the beginning of 
the rooting out process, then we may know that the 
breaking of the covenant occurred at or before that 
time, because the breaking of the covenant was the 
cause and the rooting out process was the effect, and 
cause must precede effect. 

In answer to the above question, one point seems 
entirely clear and certain. The breaking of the cove- 
nant occurred before the fall of the kingdom in the days 
of King Zedekiah and their expulsion from the land , 
because, as shown by the above quoted scriptures, their 
expulsion from the land was the very event that was 
to result from the breaking of the covenant. It also 
appears entirely certain that the process of rooting 
them out of the land began at some time before the fall 
of tlu- kingdom and the beginning of the captivity, 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 13 

because the beginning of the captivity was the end of 
the process of rooting them out of the land. 

It is not claimed that the scriptures show the exact 
point of time when the breaking of the covenant 
occurred. It is claimed that they do show a point of 
time when the covenant was broken, and that the 
breaking of the covenant occurred either at that point 
of time or prior thereto, and that it could not have 
been after that point of time. 

The process of rooting them out of their land, as 
will be shown, began with the call, or appointment, 
of Jeremiah in the 13th year of the reign of King 
Josiah, and therefore we may know that the breaking 
of the covenant occurred either at that point of time 
or prior thereto ; and, that it could not have been after 
that point of time. 

The process of rooting them out of their land, as 
will be shown, began with the call, or appointment, of 
Jeremiah in the 13th year of the reign of King Josiah, 
and therefore we may know that the breaking of the 
covenant occurred at or before that time. Coming now 
to the 1st chapter of the book of Jeremiah, and to verse 
10, we read as follows : "See, I have this day set thee 
over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, 
and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, 
to build and to plant." Jeremiah is here "set over the 
nations" Not the nation of Israel alone, but all the 
nations. The nation of Israel was the first one to be 
rooted out. The mission of Jeremiah to root out, etc., 
as it applied both to the nation of Israel and to all 
nations, is set forth in the 25th chapter of Jeremiah. 
In the 29th verse of the last named chapter, the Lord 
addresses the nations as follows : "For, lo, I began to 
bring evil on the city which is called by my name (the 
process of "rooting out" having already been inaugu- 



14 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

rated) and should you be utterly unpunished? Ye 
shall not be unpunished : for I will call for a sword 
upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the Lord of 
hosts." Some authorities have concluded that the 
words "root out," etc., refer to the rooting out of evil, 
and that the mission of Jeremiah was to root out and 
destroy the evils of his times. That his mission was 
for the ultimate destruction of evil may be true; but 
if the immediate object of his mission was to root out 
evil, then it would appear that his mission was a fail- 
ure ; because evil was present during all the days of 
Jeremiah and is still present. As there could be no 
such thing as failure in the plans of the Lord, we must 
conclude that the words "root out," etc., have some 
other application. As to the real meaning of the words 
"to root out," as contained in the commission here 
given to Jeremiah, they must refer to the rooting out 
of Israel from their land, which event was actually 
completed in forty years after this time, or otherwise 
all the prophecies we have quoted, showing that the 
covenant would be broken, and that they would be 
rooted or plucked out of their land because the cove- 
nant was broken, have gone unfulfilled. 

We have seen in Deut. 29 : 28, and in numerous 
other places referred to, that Israel was to be rooted 
out of their land if the covenant was broken. We have 
also seen in Deut. 31 : 16, that the Lord said they would 
break the covenant; further, in Jer. 11:10, that they 
had broken it. We know, therefore, that the covenant 
was surely broken at some time between the days of 
Moses and the days of Jeremiah ; and, that as a result 
thereof, the process of rooting them out of their land 
certainly must have followed. 

We must, therefore, conclude that the beginning of 
the process of rooting them out of their land is 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 15 

indicated by the scripture in Jer. 1 : 10, or we must 
conclude that the covenant was not broken, and that 
they were not rooted out of the land, unless the fulfill- 
ment of these scriptures can be pointed out as having 
taken place at some other time. 

The conclusion, that the words "root out" are to 
be applied as here set forth is confirmed by Jer. 1 : 15. 
Here the Lord said he would call all the families of 
the north, alluding to the Babylonians, who, it appears, 
were to execute the will of the Lord in the removal 
of Israel out of the land. 

In Jer. 25 : 9, and chapter 27 : 6, and also 43 : 10, 
Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon is referred to 
as the servant of the Lord. The work here assigned 
for this servant to perform, as the scriptures referred 
to will clearly show, includes the removal of Israel 
from their land, and thus indicates the natural means 
to be employed in "rooting them out." 

Elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah we read of 
Israel being plucked up or out of their land. The 
words "root" and "pluck" are both from the same 
Hebrew word and refer to the removal of Israel out 
of the land. 

See Jer. 18 : 6 and 7 : "At what instant I shall 
speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, 
to pluck up, etc." Also Jer. 31 : 27 and 28 : "Behold, 
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the 
house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed 
of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come 
to pass, that like as / have zvatched over them, to pluck 
up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to 
destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, 
to build, and to plant, saith the Lord." 

See also Jer. 24 : 5 and 6 : "Thus saith the Lord, 
the God of Israel, Like these good figs, so will [ 



16 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

acknowledge them that are carried away captive of 
Judah, whom / have sent out of this place into the 
land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set 
mine eyes upon them for good, and will bring them 
again to this land ; and I will build them and not pull 
them down ; and I will plant them, and not pluck them 
up." Here we have the statement from the Lord to 
the effect that he had watched over them to pluck 
them up or out of their land, etc. ; also that he had 
sent them out of their land and into the land of the 
Chaldeans for their good. This shows that the pro- 
cess of rooting or plucking out had already been 
inaugurated and that it was now in operation. As 
the process of rooting or plucking out was here being" 
fulfilled, it is therefore reasonable to conclude that the 
beginning of the fulfillment was at the time indicated 
in Jer. 1 : 10, the day when Jeremiah was appointed 
to "root out." The construction of these last named 
passages is very similar to that of Jer. 1 : 10, thus 
showing a close relationship and conveying the idea 
that the reference in each place is to the same event, 
to the expulsion of Israel from their land. That the 
process of rooting Israel out of their land was a pro- 
gressive work, and that it was inaugurated at the time 
when Jeremiah was appointed, and that it was now in 
process of fulfillment, would seem to be true because 
we have the evidence of other scriptures showing that 
some such work was now progressing". As evidence 
of this fact see the following scriptures: II Kings 
21:12: "Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel, 
Behold, I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem and 
Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, both his ears shall 
tingle." 

Also II Kings 22 : 20 (Leeser) : "Therefore, behold, 
I will gather thee unto thy fathers, and thou shalt 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 17 

be gathered to thy grave in peace ; and thy eyes shall 
not look on all the evil which / am bringing over this 
place." 

Jer. 25 : 29 : "For, lo, I begin to bring evil on the 
city which is called by my name, etc." 

It is said by some authorities that the words, "I 
have set thee over the nations," or, as rendered by 
Leeser, "I have appointed thee," mean that Jeremiah 
was made an overseer or vicegerent. This would 
appear to show that he was raised up for some special 
and great work, different, in some respects at least, 
from the work of the other prophets. 

That this thought is true seems evident from the 
5th verse of Jer. 1 : "Before I formed thee in the belly 
I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the 
womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet 
unto the nations." Regarding this last quoted verse 
of scripture, the Expositor's Bible speaks as follows : 
"With certainty of his own Divine calling, it became 
clear to the prophet that the choice was not an arbitrary 
caprice ; it was the execution of a Divine purpose, con- 
ceived long, long before its realization in time and 
space. The God whose foreknowledge and will directs 
the whole course of human history — whose control of 
events and direction of human energies is most signally 
evident in precisely those instances where men and 
nations are most regardless of him, and imagine the 
vain thought that they are independent of him — this 
Sovereign Being, in the development of whose eternal 
purposes he himself, and every son of man, was neces- 
sarily a factor, had from the first 'known him' — 
known the individual character and capacities which 
would constitute his fitness for the special work of 
his life — and 'sanctified' him ; devoted and conse-- 



38 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

crated him to the doing of it when the time of his 
earthly manifestation should arrive." 

The covenant being now broken, the time for the 
beginning of the work that was to follow as a result 
of the broken covenant had arrived, and now Jeremiah 
was sent forth on his mission to prophesy of their 
expulsion from the land, the captivity, the desolation 
of the land, and all the other events that were to follow 
as a result of the broken covenant, even down to the 
end of the times of the Gentiles, and to the time when, 
as the Lord said, "I will plant them, and not pluck 
them up." 

There was also another phase of the mission of 
Jeremiah. As we will see, further along, he was to be 
the bearer of an accusation made against them on 
account of their idolatry and the breaking of the cove- 
nant. 

This accusation, as we will endeavor to show, was 
connected with a trial, which trial was a part of the 
rooting out process, and preliminary to the final 
expulsion of Israel from the land. It was certainly 
necessary that Jeremiah be more than ordinarily 
equipped, considering the nature of his mission, and 
hence we read in Jer. 1 : 18 and 19, as follows : "For 
behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, an 
iron pillar and brassen walls against the whole land, 
against the kings of Judah, against the princes there- 
of, against the priests thereof, and against the people 
of the land. And they shall fight against thee ; but 
they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, 
saith the Lord, to deliver thee." 

That the covenant was broken at or about this 
time is evidenced by the following scriptures. See 
Jer. 11:10: "The house of Israel and the house of 
Judah have broken my covenant which I made with 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 19 

their fathers." Also Jer. 31 : 32 : "Behold, the days 
come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant 
with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah ; 
not according- to the covenant that I made with their 
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring 
them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant 
they brake." Also see Ezekiel 16 : 5'd : "For thus saith 
the Lord God, I will even deal with thee as thou hast 
done, which hast despised the oath in breaking the 
covenant." 

It will be noticed that these scriptures refer to the 
breaking of the covenant as having occurred in the 
past, and this is in harmony with the thought that 
the covenant was broken at the time when Jeremiah 
was appointed, because these scriptures were written 
after the appointment of Jeremiah. Having, as we 
think, established the fact that the appointment of 
Jeremiah marks the beginning of the fulfillment of 
Deut. 2*9 : 28, and that the process of rooting them out 
of their land then began, and, having thus established 
the fact that the breaking of the covenant is thus shown 
to have occurred at or prior to the time of the appoint- 
ment of Jeremiah, we will now introduce another line 
of evidence showing the above conclusions to be correct 
and also showing that they were brought to trial for 
the often se of breaking the covenant. 



20 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazu. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE SONG OF MOSES 

AND 

THE BOOK OF THE LAW, 

AS WITNESSES. 

In connection with the events before mentioned in 
the covenant beginning at Deut. 29 : 1, we now come to 
chapter 30. We are here informed of the restoration 
of Israel. 

A writer, commenting on this chapter, says as fol- 
lows : "In this 30th chapter, the onlook and outlook of 
Moses are much more extended than before. So 
distantly is his eye cast now, that he actually looks 
to the further side of the gloomy scene he has so 
recently sketched, and sees in the horizon a belt of 
glory bounding his view, so that, although the present 
darkness and distress into which the scattered nation 
is plunged are the exact fulfillment of the word of God, 
yet the same word declares this to be a transition, and 
not a final state of things. God has not cast away his 
people. The blackness of the picture of Israel's rejec- 
tion and desolation is relieved by the rim of gold on 
the further edge. The verses seem to teach, not only 
that if Israel repent, mercy awaits it, but that Israel 
will repent; that a day of repentance is ordained for 
it — a day in which the veil that lias been so long left 
lying on Jewish hearts will be lifted off, and the nation 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 21 

will mourn for him whom it has pierced and has so 
long rejected." 

In chapter 31, we read of the last acts of Moses : 
"Moses had now finished his work as the legislator 
and ruler and leader of Israel. But ere he finally 
retired from his place, he had to take orders for the 
carrying forward of the work by the nomination of 
a successor to himself in the leadership ; by com- 
mitting the keeping of the Law to the priests ; and by 
anew admonishing the people to obedience, encourag- 
ing them to go forward to the conquest of Canaan, 
animating them with the assurance of the Divine 
favour and blessing, and pronouncing on them his 
parting benediction. After nominating Joshua as his 
successor, and assigning the keeping of the Law to 
the priesthood and body of elders, Moses was sum- 
moned by the Lord to appear with Joshua in the 
tabernacle, that Joshua might receive a charge and 
appointment to his office." 

Beginning at the 14th verse we read as follows : 
Verse 14 — "And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, 
thy days approach that thou must die; call Joshua, 
and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congre- 
gation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and 
Joshua went, and presented themselves in the taber- 
nacle of the congregation. 15 : And the Lord 
appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud; and 
the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the 
tabernacle. 16 : And the Lord said unto Moses, Be- 
hold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers ; and this people 
will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the 
strangers of the land whither they go to be among 
them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant 
which I have made with them. 17 : Then my anger 
shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will 



22 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazu. 

forsake them, and I will hide my face from them and 
they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles 
shall befall them ; so that they will say in that day, Are 
not these evils come upon us, because our God is not 
among us? 18 : And I will surely hide my face in that 
day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in 
that they are turned unto other gods. 19 : Now, there- 
fore, write ye this song for you, and teach it the 
children of Israel ; put it in their mouths, that this 
song may be a witness for me against the children of 
Israel. 20 : For when I shall have brought them into 
the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth 
with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and 
filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn 
unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and 
break my covenant. 21 : And it shall come to pass, 
when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that 
this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it 
shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed ; 
for I know their imagination which they go about, 
even now, before I have brought them into the land 
which I sware. 22 : Moses therefore wrote this song 
the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. 
23 : And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, 
and said, Be strong and of a good courage ; for thou 
shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which 
I sware unto them ; and I will be with thee. 24 : And 
it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of 
writing the words of this law in a book, until they 
were finished. 25 : That Moses commanded the 
Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the 
Lord, saying, 26 : Take this book of the Law, and put 
it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord 
your God, that it may be there for a witness against 
thee." 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 23 

Here we have the statement from the Lord that at 
some time after their entrance into the land of Canaan, 
Israel would go after the gods of the strangers of the 
land, and forsake the Lord and break the covenant; 
and, as a consequence thereof, the Lord would forsake 
them and hide his face from them. Therefore (be- 
cause they will break the covenant), Moses is com- 
manded to write a song that it may be a witness for the 
Lord against the children of Israel. We are also 
informed that the book of the Law, referred to in 
verse 26, was to be a witness against them. What are 
we to understand by verses 19 and 26, or, in what 
sense is the book of the Law and the song to be wit- 
nesses against Israel? We are informed that Moses 
was commanded to write the song and ''teach it to the 
children of Israel"; to "put it into their mouths," so 
that, "it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of 
their seed, etc." The first thought would seem to be 
that the primary object here was that this song was to 
be firmly lodged in their minds in order that, whenever 
they were disposed to become idolatrous, the song as 
a witness would rise up in their minds to smite the 
conscience of the individual Israelite and thus tend to 
lead them away from idolatry and the consequent 
breaking of the covenant. While this thought was 
probably true to some extent, we will endeavor to show 
that it was not the primary object in view in the 
preparation of the song as a witness. What disposi- 
tion was made of the written copy of the song we are 
not directly informed. 

Presumably it was included in the book of the Law 
referred to in verse 26. This, it appears, must be true 
or otherwise the song would not be in our Bible of 
today. It was the written copy of the song, as we 



24 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the LQXV. 

understand it, that was to be a "witness for the Lord 
against Israel." 

The written copy of the song having been included 
in the book of the Law of verse 26, the song and the 
book, unitedly, became a witness for the Lord against 
Israel. The authorities to be quoted in relation to the 
character of the witnesses referred to, seem to assume 
that the application of the song as a witness is in the 
way we have indicated ; that it was a witness to rise up 
in the minds and conscience of the people, warning 
them against idolatry, and that this was its only 
application. This explanation might appear to be true 
as to the witness in verse 19, but in regard to the wit- 
ness of the book of the Law T in verse 26, it would 
not appear to be correct, for the reason that in 
verse 19 we are informed that the song, as a witness, 
was to be "put into their mouths." or kept in memoiy, 
and therefore it would naturally rise up in their minds 
as an admonition whenever they were tempted to do 
wrong; but as we are not informed that the book of 
the Law of verse 26 Was to be "put into their 
mouths," or kept in memory, it would not do to say 
that it was to "rise up" in their minds to smite the con- 
science ; because it could not do so unless, like the 
song, it was committed to memory. The explanation 
of the witness of the book of the Law of verse 26, 
therefore, must be found in some other direction. 

The song, as a witness, and the book of the Law, 
as a witness, both pertain to one and the same offense, 
the breaking of the covenant. We are distinctly 
informed that Israel will break the covenant, and it is 
because of this fact that both the song and the book of 
the Law, as witnesses, are prepared to testify. Now, 
it must follow that, in whatever sense the song was to 
be a witness against them, in that same sense the book 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 25 

of the Law was to be a witness against them. Or, to 
reverse the proposition, in whatever sense the book of 
the Law was to be a witness against them, in that 
same sense the song was to be a witness against them ; 
because, as we have seen, they both relate to one and 
the same offense, which was the breaking of the cove- 
nant. Therefore, if the song was to be merely a witness 
to "rise up" in their minds and conscience in con- 
demnation on account of their idolatry, then the book 
of the Law must be a witness of the same nature. 

But, as we have seen, the book of the Law could 
not have been such a witness unless we are to assume 
that it, like the song, was "put into their mouths," 
so that "it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of 
their seed" ; and this we have no reason to suppose was 
true of the book of the Law. 

Therefore, as the book of the Law could not have 
been such a witness, it follows that the song was not, 
primarily at least, such a witness ; and therefore some 
other application, both of the song and the book of the 
Law, as witnesses, must be found. 

We are expressly informed in verse 26 that the 
book of the Law was to be a witness against them. 
Therefore it must follow that it did testify against 
them at some time in the history of Israel. When did 
it testify? We answer, its testimony must have been 
given at the time of the discovery of the book of the 
Law as related in II Kings 22 : 8, and that the book 
then found was identical with the one mentioned in 
Deut. 31 : 26. This would appear to be a reasonable 
conclusion because we have no intimation of it ever 
having testified at any other time or in any other way. 

Surely it must have testified at some time, and, 
unless its testimony can be shown to have been given 
at some other time, and in some other way, then we 



26 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

must conclude that the discovery and reading of the 
book by Josiah, and its proclamation by Jeremiah, was 
in fulfillment of its mission as a witness against them. 
This conclusion appears all the more reasonable 
because the authorities, so far as is known to the 
writer, about all agree that the book found was identi- 
cal with the book mentioned in Deut. 31 : 26. And, 
several of them at least, say that the reading of the 
book by Josiah was probably in fulfillment of its mis- 
sion as a witness. 

Assuming it as true that the book then testified, it 
follows that the song also testified at the same time 
because it was included in the book, and thus both the 
song and book then testified. 

The prevailing thought in regard to this song, and 
the book of the Law, as witnesses, as expressed by five 
different authorities, is as follows : 

First, by Jamieson Fawcett and Brown : "National 
songs take deep hold on the memories, and have a 
powerful influence in stirring the deepest feelings of 
a people; and in accordance with this principle in 
human nature, a song was ordered to be composed by 
Moses, doubtless under Divine inspiration, which was 
to be learnt by the Israelites themselves, and to be 
taught to their children in every age, and of a strain 
well suited to inspire the popular mind with a strong 
sense of God's favour to their nation." 

According to this authority, this song was to be a 
witness for Israel, to be used by Israel as an expression 
of their appreciation of God's favor to their nation. 
What good reason there can be for the above thought 
it is difficult to see. In the first place, we are not told 
that this song was to be a witness for Israel. Secondly, 
we are expressly informed that the song was to be a 
witness for the Lord, and not Israel. Further that the 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 27 

song was to be a witness for the Lord against Israel. 
A witness for the Lord against Israel could not be a 
witness for Israel, and in the Lord's favor. As to the 
witness spoken of in verse 26, the book of the Law, the 
above authority has nothing to say regarding its testi- 
mony except as follows : ''Some think that this was the 
copy found in the time of Josiah." 

The second authority, Matthew Henry, says : "The 
song was to be a standing admonition to them to take 
heed of forsaking God. In answer to this view, the 
Lord said in verse 16 that Israel would forsake him. 
Therefore, is it reasonable to suppose that the Lord 
would prepare a witness to prevent Israel from doing 
what he foresaw they would do?" 

As to the witness of the book of the Law referred 
to in verse 26, this authority remarks as follows : "It 
is probable that this was the very book that was 
found in the house of the Lord, in the days of Josiah, 
and so perhaps the following words here, "that it may 
be a witness against thee," may particularly point at 
that event which happened so long after, for the find- 
ing of this very book occasioned the public reading of 
it by Josiah himself, "for a witness against a people who 
were then almost ripe for their ruin by the Babylon- 
ians." Here we have the opinion expressed that the 
book of the Law, as a witness, testified in the days of 
Josiah, and therefore, if that opinion is in accord with 
the facts, we may conclude that the song, as a witness, 
testified at the same time. 

Our third authority is the Pulpit Commentary. 
We quote from it as follows : "Moses was directed to 
write a song and teach it to the people, that it might 
abide with them as a witness against them, rising up, 
as songs will do, in the memory of the nation, even 
after they had apostatized from the path in which the 



28 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

author of the song had led them." This last named 
view of the song, as a witness, seems more reasonable 
than the others above quoted, but, as we will endeavor 
to show, it is far from being satisfactory. 

Regarding the book of the Law as a witness, this 
authority says it was "placed by the ark of the cove- 
nant, that it might be kept for all future generations 
as a witness against the people, whose apostasy and 
rebellion were foreseen." Our fourth authority, is Ben- 
son's Commentary. It says : "That this song may be 
a witness for me — of my kindness in giving them so 
many blessings, of my patience in bearing so long with 
them, of my clemency in giving them such fair and 
plain warnings, and of my justice in punishing such 
an incorrigible people." Regarding the book of the 
Law as a witness, this authority says : "Probably this 
was the very same book which, after having been some 
way misplaced, was found in the house of the Lord in 
the days of Josiah, and publicly read by the king him- 
self, for a testimony against the people, who were then 
almost ripe for ruin." 

Our next authority is the International Critical 
Commentary. Regarding the song as a witness it 
says as follows : "A witness for me against the children 
of Israel ; partly by showing them that, having been 
forewarned of the bitter consequences of apostasy, they 
have only themselves to blame if they suffer accord- 
ingly, partly by convicting them of ingratitude in 
deserting their Benefactor, and establishing the justice 
and mercy of God. Hence the song is to be taught 
the Israelites, in order that their successive generations 
may become familiar with its contents, and take to 
heart the lessons which it contains." This authority 
appears to be in doubt as to the real sense in which the 
song was to be a witness against Israel ; because, in 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 29 

addition to the above quotation, it adds the following: 
"The original aim of the song, and the sense in which 
it was actually a witness against Israel, were possibly, 
however, different from those ascribed to it here by 
the author of Deut. 31 : 16 to 22." 

This last quoted statement would seem to destroy 
the effect of the first one, and to show that the writer 
was in doubt as to the sense in which the song was to 
be a witness. Regarding the book of the Law as a 
witness, this authority says: "For a witness against 
thee, viz., as representing a standard of faith and action 
from which, in the case assumed, Israel will have 
visibly declined. It is remarkable that the same phrase 
which is applied in verse 19 to the song is used here 
with reference to the Deut. law : against thee." 

Having seen, from the foregoing quotations, the 
thought that seems to generally prevail regarding the 
sense in which these witnesses were to testify, we 
will now endeavor to show by scriptural proof, — 

First, that the song and book of the Law were not 
intended, primarily, to be such witnesses as are 
described by the authorities we have quoted. 

Second, that a trial is implied here in the scripture 
of Deut. 31:16 to 22, on account of the fact, as stated, 
that Israel would break the covenant. 

Third, that these witnesses were prepared in 
advance of the trial, to testify at the trial, which was to 
be instituted against Israel after the covenant was 
broken. 

Fourth, that this trial was held in the days of the 
prophet Jeremiah and King Josiah, and that the cove- 
nant was broken at that time, and that the witnesses 
then testified at that trial 

As we have seen, some of our authorities think that 
this book of the Law was the one that was found in 



30 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

the days of King Josiah (II Kings 22:8) and read 
before him, and, as generally supposed, was afterward 
proclaimed by Jeremiah. Jamieson Fawcett and 
Brown, quoting Keil, say : "It was the temple copy 
which — having been laid (Deut. 31:25 and 26) beside 
the ark in the most holy place, and during the ungodly 
reigns of Manasseh and Amon, perhaps under Ahaz, 
when the temple itself had been profaned by idols, and 
the ark also removed from its site — was somehow lost, 
and was now found again during the repair of the 
temple." Again, Jamieson Fawcett and Brown say: 
"It is thought, with great probability, that the passage 
read to the king, and by which the royal mind was so 
greatly excited, was a portion of Deuteronomy, the 
28th, 29th and 30th chapters, in which is recorded a 
renewal of the national covenant." 

Benson, in his comments on II Kings 22 : 8, says : 
"This is generally agreed to have been the archetype 
written by Moses, and by him ordered to be deposited 
with the ark in the most holy place; but it is much 
disputed whether it was the whole Pentateuch, or only 
Deuteronomy, or even barely the 28th, 29th, 30th and 
31st chapters of that book." The Pulpit Commentary 
says : "Whether or no the copy was the actual original 
deposited in the ark of the covenant by Moses, as Keil 
believes, is doubtful. As Egyptian manuscripts which 
are from three to four thousand years old still exist in 
good condition, there can be no reason why a manu- 
script of Moses' time should not have been found and 
have been legible in Josialrs. But, if not the actual 
handwriting of Moses, it was probably its lineal 
descendent;" 

Matthew Henry says : "It is probable that this was 
the very book that was found in the house of the Lord 
in the days of Josiah." Again, in his comments on 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 31 

II Kings 22 : 8, he says : "Most likely it was that which, 
by the command of Moses, was laid up in the most 
holy place, Deut. 31 : 26." 

This book that was found in the days of King Josiah, 
we believe, to have been the one that is here spoken of 
in Deut. 31:26. Our reasons for so believing are be- 
cause, as we will endeavor to show, the covenant was 
broken five years before the book was found, and a 
trial had been instituted against them at that time, on 
account of the broken covenant. Therefore, this book 
of the Law, including the song, having been appointed 
as a witness to testify at this trial, it was then due time 
for its testimony to be given, and hence the Lord so 
directed events as to have the book appear at that time. 
We will endeavor to show, further along, how both the 
song and the book of the Law testified at the time 
above named ; and, if we can succeed in establishing as 
facts the above statements, we will have proved that 
both the book of the Law and the song were designed 
to testify at that time. With this explanation, we will 
defer, for the present, any further consideration of the 
book of the Law. 

We will now consider the song, as a witness, sepa- 
rate from the book of the Law, and will endeavor to 
show that it was not intended to be, primarily, such a 
witness as has been described by the authorities we 
have quoted, and that it could not have been. This 
song was written because of an offense, the breaking 
of the covenant. 

The offense here spoken of will certainly be com- 
mitted. It is not a possible or a probable offense that 
Israel may or may not commit at some time in the 
future, but it is an offense that they will certainly com- 
mit. Israel "will rise up, and go a whoring after the 
gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be 



32 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

among them, and will forsake me, and break my cove- 
nant which I have made with them." We thus see 
that the offense was certain to occur in the future. 
The offense here spoken of was not merely sinful in 
the sight of the Lord, but it was an offense against the 
Law, a transgression of the covenant. See Deut. 17 : 2 
to 6: "If there be found among you, within any of 
thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or 
woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of 
the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, and 
hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, 
either the sun or the moon, or any of the host of 
heaven, which I have not commanded ; and if it be told 
thee, and thou hast heard of it, and enquired diligently, 
and, behold, it be true, and the thing certain, that such 
abomination is wrought in Israel ; then shalt thou 
bring forth that man or that woman, which have com- 
mitted that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man 
or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till 
they die." Here then, according to the above quoted 
law, their idolatry which led to the breaking of the 
covenant was an offense against the law and punish- 
able with death. In connection with and because of 
this offense against the law, this song was ordered to 
be written in order that it might be a witness for the 
Lord against Israel after the offense was committed. 
We here have two facts clearly set forth : First — An 
offense against the law, the breaking of the covenant, 
which was certain to occur in the future. Second — 
The preparation of a witness to testify in connection 
with, in regard to, and because of, that offense. 

This actual offense against the law and the witness 
regarding the same being thus clearly yoked together, 
it must follow that a trial on account of the offense is 
here implied. Otherwise there could be no connection 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 33 

between the offense and the witness. A witness that 
was simply to "abide" with Israel, as a warning, or to 
"rise up" in their memories to condemn them on 
account of their apostasy, at some time in the future, 
and without any further signification, could have no 
connection with an offense against the law. What 
connection could there be between such a witness and 
this offense against the law, the breaking of the cove- 
nant? Evidently none. If it had been written that 
Israel will probably break the covenant, then such a 
witness might serve as a warning, leading them to 
avoid such a calamity. But, as it is here distinctly said 
that they ivould break the covenant, this kind of a 
witness would not apply because it would have no 
application after the covenant was broken and the law 
thereby violated. As there could be no such thing as 
a trial without an offense against the law, and a witness 
in regard to that offense, so, on the other hand, there 
could be no such thing as a connection between an 
offense against the law and a witness in regard to that 
offense, without a trial. 

Therefore, as we are here informed of an actual 
offense against the law, and a witness in connection 
with that offense, and because of that offense, we must 
conclude that a trial is here implied. If a trial is not 
implied, then there is, and can be, no connection what- 
ever between the offense and the witness. Surely, there 
must be some connection between the offense and the 
witness. If not, there could be no reason why the 
witness should be prepared in connection with the 
offense, or to testify against Israel on account of the 
offense. The foregoing argument may be summarized 
as follows : 1st, The Lord foresaw and said that 
Israel would break the covenant. 2nd, The breaking 
of the covenant was a violation of the law, and was 



34 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

punishable with death. 3rd, The death penalty could 
not be inflicted except by due process of law, which 
process involves the idea of a trial. 4th, The Lord pre- 
pared a witness to testify against Israel at this trial, 
and on account of the offense. 5th, The witness, there- 
fore, must be so constituted as to be able to testify at 
this trial under the law. 6th, Therefore, as the witness, 
described by the authorities we have quoted, could 
have no application at a trial under the law, it could 
not be such a witness as the Lord prepared. 7th, The 
only remaining explanation, therefore, is that a trial 
is here implied, and that the witness prepared by the 
Lord was intended to testify at that trial. 

Another evidence showing that this witness was 
not such a witness as is described by the authorities 
quoted, is as follows : We are informed that the Lord 
commanded Moses to "write ye this song for you, and 
teach it the children of Israel ; put it in their mouths, 
etc." And again, "for it shall not be forgotten out 
of the mouths of their seed/' It thus appears that 
this song was to be an abiding witness ; that it was to 
"abide" with the children of Israel, as is claimed by 
some of the authorities we have quoted. But why was 
the song to "abide" with the children of Israel? 

Our authorities say it was to "abide" with Israel 
in order that it might "rise up, as songs will do. in the 
memory of the nation, even after they had apostatized, 
etc." Why should the song rise up in the memory of 
the nation, even after they had apostatized? What was 
to be accomplished by the "rising up" of the song? 
It may be said that the song was to "rise up" in the 
minds and conscience of the nation, in condemnation, 
in order to lead them to repent of the sin of breaking 
the covenant, and to turn anew to the Lord. But sup- 
pose they did repent, after breaking the covenant, of 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 35 

what avail would their repentance be so far as the 
covenant was concerned ? The Lord said : "And I will 
forsake them and hide my face from them in that day," 
the day when the covenant was broken. Again he said : 
"I will surely hide my face from them in that day." 
Therefore, repentance would not prevent the forsaking" 
of them by the Lord, the hiding of his face from them, 
or render whole again the broken covenant. Of 
what avail, then, could repentance be, so far as the 
broken covenant was concerned, or why should the 
song "rise up" to lead them to repent of the sin of 
breaking the covenant when repentance would not 
heal the breach, or prevent the Lord from forsak- 
ing them or hiding his face from them? As re- 
pentance could avail nothing so far as the threat- 
ened punishments were concerned, it must follow 
that repentance was not the object in view in the 
preparation of this song as a witness. From the stand- 
point of the authorities we have quoted, there could 
have been but one reason why the song should "abide" 
with Israel ; and that reason is that it was to abide with 
them in order to prevent them, if possible, from break- 
ing the covenant ; and, unless it was to abide with them 
for this purpose, there was no reason why it should 
abide with them at all. The song might "rise up, 
as songs will do," to condemn them whenever they fell 
into idolatry, but the condemnation must be for some 
purpose. Otherwise, there could be no reason why 
they should be condemned. Whatever might be the 
immediate cause leading the song to "rise up" in con- 
demnation of Israel, the ultimate cause would always 
be to prevent them from breaking the covenant. Sup- 
pose the song did "rise up" to condemn them. If so, 
it must certainly follow that the condemnation was on 
account of their idolatry ; and, if they were condemned 



3'J The Broken Covenant and the Book of the L 

on account of their idolatry, it must follow that it was 
because idolatry led to the breaking- of the covenant. 
Therefore, there is no escape from the conclusion, 
looking at it from the standpoint of these authorities, 
that the reason why this song was to abide with Israel 
was for the purpose of preventing them from breaking 
the covenant. If they were condemned by the song, 
it could only be for this purpose. But suppose we 
assume, for the moment, that the song was to abide 
with them in order to prevent them from breaking the 
covenant. Then we are met with another difficulty. 
The Lord said that they would break the covenant; 
and, that being true, how could the song, as a witness, 
prevent the accomplishment of an event which the Lord 
said zvould come to pass? The Lord, it would seem, 
would certainly not prepare a witness to be used by 
himself against Israel, the same to abide with Israel, 
in order to prevent them from breaking the cove- 
nant, when at the same time he foresaw and said that 
they would break the covenant. If the breaking of 
the covenant was in doubt, if it had been written that 
Israel may break. the covenant, then a witness to abide 
with them for the purpose of leading them to avoid 
such a calamity would appear reasonable. But, as we 
are clearly informed that they zvould break the cove- 
nant, the thought that the song was to abide with them 
in order to prevent them from breaking it, would cer- 
tainly appear unreasonable. If the Lord foresaw that 
Israel would certainly break the covenant, he would 
not, it would seem, prepare a witness to prevent them 
from breaking it. Or, if ho prepared a witness to pre- 
vent them from breaking the covenant, he did not 
certainly foresee, it would seem, that they would break 
it. If the Lord had designed to prevent the breaking 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 37 

of the covenant, we may be sure that the covenant 
would never have been broken. 

The Lord having foreseen and said, as we are 
clearly informed, that Israel mould break the covenant, 
it must follow that the song, as a witness, was not pre- 
pared to prevent them from breaking the covenant. 
Therefore, the song, as a witness, as understood by 
the authorities we have quoted, could not accomplish 
the work for which, according to their logic, it was 
designed; and hence it could not be such a witness as 
the Lord prepared to testify against Israel. 

Again, we are informed by some of our authorities 
that the song was to testify against Israel even after 
the covenant was broken ; that it was to ''rise up in the 
memory of the nation even after they had apostatized." 
If it was to testify against them before the covenant 
was broken and for the purpose of preventing the 
breaking of the covenant, for what purpose would it 
testify against them after the covenant was broken ? 

Another argument showing that the song could not 
have been such a witness as is described by the authori- 
ties quoted, is as follows : We are informed in verse 
19, that this song was to be a witness for the Lord 
against Israel. If the song was to be such a witness 
as it is said to have been by the authorities quoted, a 
witness to serve as a warning or admonition to guard 
Israel from idolatry and the consequent breaking of the 
covenant, how could such a witness be a witness for the 
Lord against Israel? Such a witness would certainly 
be a witness for Israel, and not a witness for the Lord 
against Israel. A witness prepared for the purpose 
of saving Israel from the sad results of a broken cove- 
nant would certainly be a witness for Israel, not 
against Israel. 

That this song was to "abide" with Israel must 



38 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law 

certainly be true. That it was not intended to abide 
with them in order to prevent the accomplishment or 
an event that the Lord said would come to pass is 
equally true. It is, no doubt, true that this song was 
intended to abide in the mouths and hearts of the people 
of Israel as a constant warning, giving them the oppor- 
tunity to avoid the breaking of the covenant ; but the 
Lord foresaw that they would fail to take advantage 
of the opportunity, and that they zcould break the 
covenant, and therefore commanded Moses to write 
the song that the written copy thereof might be a wit- 
ness for the Lord against them in the day when the 
covenant would be broken, and when they would be 
arraigned for trial on the charge of breaking the cove- 
nant. 

Another reason why this song was not intended to 
be such a witness, as is described by the authorities 
named, is as follows. In verse 19 it is said : "That 
this song may be a witness for me," and in verse 21 
it is said : "this song shall testify against them.'' Here 
the song appears to have a double application. It is to 
be a witness for the Lord, but, as though it was an 
individual witness, the song will also testify against 
them. The thought here seems to be that the song, as 
though it was an individual witness, would testify in 
support of an accusation to be made against Israel bv 
the Lord. A witness given as an admonition or as a 
warning could not actually testify, and therefore could 
not be such a witness as is here required. 

Another and a most satisfactory reason why the 
witness spoken of could not have been such a witness, 
as is described by the authorities named, is as follows : 
The word "against" in verse 21 is evidently a faulty 
translation. The revised version here reads as follows: 
"This song shall testify before them as a witness." 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 39 

Young's translation reads: "testify to its (Israel) 
face." The word here translated "against" in the au- 
thorized version, according to Young's Concordance, 
signifies "face or presence" and hence the revised ver- 
sion renders it "before," meaning before, or in the 
presence of Israel. Thus, it appears, this song was to 
testify, not only against Israel, but before, or in the 
presence of Israel. Now, it will be easily seen that a 
witness, such as is described by the authorities we have 
quoted, a witness to "abide" with Israel as an admoni- 
tion or as a warning, a witness that was to "rise up, as 
songs will do" in condemnation of their idolatry, and 
without further signification, could not testify before or 
in the presence of Israel. A witness to testify before, or 
in the presence of Israel, could not be merely the wit- 
ness of a guilty conscience. It must be a witness from 
without, and not within, the conscience of the indi- 
vidual Israelite. 

It must be such a witness as will be able to actually 
testify before or in the presence of the children of Israel. 

Having seen that this song could not have been, 
primarily, such a witness as is described by the authori- 
ties we have quoted, the next question is as to what 
kind of a witness it was intended to be. We have 
already intimated that a trial is implied in the scripture 
of Deut. 31 : 16 to 27, and that this song was prepared 
to testify at that trial. What further evidence have we 
showing that a trial is implied? We answer, we have 
the fact, as will be hereafter shown, that a trial was 
instituted against them on account of the same offense 
that is here (in Deut. 31 : 1G to 27) spoken of; on 
account of which offense the witness was appointed. 
Again, we have, as evidence showing that a trial is 
implied, the fact that the Lord, in Ezekiel 36 : 16 to 20, 
after the trial had been held, informed the prophet 



40 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the L I 

Ezckicl that he had "judged them, "or acted as a magis- 
trate at a trial wherein Israel had been "judged" ; 
and. that as a result of this judgment or trial they 
had been removed or "rooted out" of their land; 
which result, as we have seen, was the very penalty 
tli at was to follow the breaking of the covenant. 
Again, we have the fact, as will be shown, that 
this trial was instituted at the time when the 
prophet Jeremiah was appointed, and that five 
\ears after the institution of the trial, and during the 
progress of the trial, the book of the Law, including the 
written copy of the song, was found in the house of the 
Lord and gave its testimony before King Josiah, and 
again testified "before" or in the presence of the chil- 
dren of Israel when it was proclainmed by Jeremiah 
before all the people. Further, we will show, as will be 
seen, that the covenant was broken at the time when the 
trial was instituted, and that the song, as a witness, was 
to testify at that trial, and that its testimony could not 
have been given until the covenant was broken and the 
trial instituted. 

As evidence of the fact that the song was not intend- 
ed to testify until after the covenant was broken, we 
call attention to the following from the record of Deut. 
31: 10 to 27. Verses 16., 17 and 18 show that at some 
time in the future Israel would fall into idolatry and 
break the covenant ; and it was because of this fact, 
and for the reason that they were to be punished at 
that time, that this song was to testify against them. 

Therefore, as the offense was in the future, so also 
the testimony regarding - the offense must be in the 
future, and after the offense is committed. A witness 
cannot testify regarding an offense until after the 
offense is committed. This thought, therefore, implies 
that the trial was to be held in the future. Again, we 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 41 

are informed in verse 21 as follows : "And it shall 
come to pass when many evils and troubles are befallen 
them, that this song shall testify, etc." Here we note 
the same thought as before. The song was to testify at 
some time in the distant future, and after many evils 
and troubles had befallen them. A standing or a con- 
tinual witness, a witness that was simply to "abide" 
with Israel as an admonition or warning against idola- 
try, would testify at all times and in all places ; but 
here we have a witness that is to testify at a designated 
time ("after many evils and troubles are befallen 
them"), and also at a designated place ("in the pres- 
ence of the children of Israel"). 

The thought that the song was not to testify until 
after the covenant was broken is further set forth as 
follows : In verse 16 it is said : "They will break my 
covenant." In verses 17 and 18 it is said: "Then mv 
anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I 
will hide my face in that day, and I will surely hide my 
face in that day" (the day when the covenant will be 
broken). Verse 19: "Now, therefore," (because the 
covenant will be broken in that day) "write ye this 
song, that this song may be a witness for me against 
the children cf Israel" — in that day; — not now, but in 
the day when the covenant will be broken. This same 
thought is further set forth in verses 20 and 21, as fol- 
lows : Verse 20 : "For when I shall have brought them 
into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that 
floweth with milk and honey ; and they shall have eaten 
and filled themselves, and waxen fat ; then will they 
turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, 
and break my covenant" Verse 21: 'And it shall 
come to pass — (after the covenant is broken, as is relat- 
ed in the last clause of verse 20) — when many evils 
and troubles are befallen taem, that this song shall 



42 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

testify against them — (before them or in their pres- 
ence) — as a witness." 

It will thus be seen that the testimony of the song 
was not to be given, and that it could not have been 
given, until after the covenant was broken. This fur- 
nishes another strong proof showing that this song 
could not be such a witness as is described by our 
authorities. A witness that was to "rise up in the mem- 
ory of the nation, even after they had apostatized," 
thus witnessing against Israel, must be a witness 
against them both before and after the covenant is 
broken. Having shown from the scriptures that the 
witness could not testify against them until after the 
covenant was broken, then it follows that the witness 
described by the authorities would not be such a witness 
as the scripture here requires. 

Therefore, as the covenant was not considered as 
broken until Jeremiah was appointed, and as a trial was 
instituted at that time, it was then due time for the 
testimony of the song to be given, and, as we will en- 
deavor to show, it was then given. 

The statements set forth in verses 16 to 27 all unite 
to show that this song, as a witness, could have no such 
primary application as the one referred to by the 
authorities quoted, or the one generally ascribed to it. 

The difficulty with the generally received idea re- 
garding the song as a witness is that it fails to recog- 
nize any connection between the witness and the broken 
covenant. Other reasons for believing this song to be 
such a witness as is herein set forth are as follows : 
First, as to the construction of the song. In reading 
this song in Deut. 32, it will be noticed that it, almost 
exclusively, relates to events in the history of Israel 
that were neither present or past at the time when the 
song was written ; and yet the song is so constructed 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 4S 

as to refer to those same events as being in the past. 
The record appears to indicate that this seeming pecu- 
liarity was on account of the fact that the song was 
especially designed to testify in the future, and not in 
the then present. 

As the covenant was to be broken in the future, the 
song, as a witness, must be so constructed as that, at 
the time when the covenant is broken and the testimony 
of the song given, it will then be a witness to events 
that will then be in the past. The song, as constructed, 
would sound all right when its testimony was given 
after the covenant was broken in the days of Jeremiah, 
because the events referred to in it were then all a part 
of their past history ; but taking our standpoint at the 
time when the song was written, and reading from that 
standpoint, it appears to have no application to the then 
present or past history of Israel. 

In other words, the song refers to events that were 
true in the subsequent history of Israel, but the events 
spoken of have no connection with the then present or 
past history of the nation at the time when the song 
was written. This thought has led many critics to the 
conclusion that the song was not written by Moses, 
but that it must have been written at a much later date 
in the history of Israel. Seeing that many of the events 
spoken of in the song were not true, either at the time 
when it was written or in the then past history of Israel, 
and that they relate to events that occurred in the subse- 
quent history of Israel, the critics have concluded that 
it must have been written at a much later date, and that 
Moses could not have been the writer. Some of the 
critics claim that it was written as late as in the days 
of Jeremiah. 

We quote from The International Critical Com- 
mentary, as follows : "The political condition of Israel 



44 The Broken Covenant and the- Book of the Laze. 

at the time when the song was written may be inferred 
without difficulty from its contents. Nothing in the 
poem points to Moses as the author. The period of the 
Exodus and of the occupation of Canaan lies in the 
distant past, the story of which may be learnt by the 
poet's contemporaries from their fathers ; Israel is 
settled in Palestine, and has had time not only to lapse 
into idolatry, but even to have been brought in conse- 
quence to the verge of ruin ; it is hard pressed by 
heathen assailants, but Jehovah promises to interpose, 
and rescue his people from its foes. Israel's apostasy, 
and consequent disasters, lie thus in the writer's past ; 
all that is future is its deliverance. Such a situation, it 
is evident, is not of the Mosaic age." 

Again, quoting from the Pulpit Commentary, some 
of the critics are said to have concluded as follows : 
"It (the song) has been adjudged by many critics to 
be the production of some unknown writer of a much 
later age. This judgment is grounded partly on the 
language and style of the ode, partly on certain state- 
ments in it which it is alleged contain allusions to events 
and circumstances in the later history of Israel. It is 
urged that this song is so constructed that the Divine 
guidance of Israel and their ingratitude are referred to 
as things already in the past." Here, in the above 
quotations, is a most excellent reason for believing 
that this song was written by Moses, and that it was 
intended to be such a witness as is herein set forth ; a 
witness to testify to "events and circumstances" that 
were not true in the history of Israel at the time when 
the song was written, but to "events and circum- 
stances" that would be true in the history of Israel 
at a time in the then distant future when the covenant 
would be broken ; at which time the song as a witness 
would testify. The "events and circumstance^" 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 45 

referred to were true of them about 930 years later, 
in the days of Jeremiah, at which time the song 
testified, as we will endeavor to show. In the days 
of Jeremiah the covenant was broken, and as this 
song was prepared by the Lord to be a witness against 
them after the covenant was broken, its testimony was 
then due, and the 'events and circumstances''' about 
which the song was to testify were then all a part of 
their past history. 

The critics, evidently, have failed to take note of 
the fact that this song is both a witness and a prophecy. 
As we have noted, the covenant of Deut. 29 : 1, is both 
a covenant and prophecy ; a prophecy of events that 
were to come to pass in the day when the covenant 
would be broken. 

The song, therefore, appears to have served a double 
purpose. First it was taught to the children of Israel, 
put in their mouths that it might abide with them. 
Secondly, the written copy of the song was included 
in the book of the Law, or covenant, thus becoming a 
part of the same. The song being a part of the cove- 
nant, it follows that it must be in harmony with the 
remainder of the covenant. As chapters 29, 30 and 31 
relate to the breaking of the covenant, and are prophe- 
cies in regard to the same, showing that the covenant 
would be broken at some time in the future, so also the 
song, which was to be a witness in regard to the broken 
covenant, must give its testimony in the future, and 
after the covenant is broken. If we were to assume 
that the song testified at the time when it was written, 
then we must also assume that the prophecies of chap- 
ters 29, 30 and 31, so far as they relate to the broken 
covenant, had already been fulfilled at that time and 
that the covenant was then broken. Such an assump- 
tion would not only be contrary to reason and clearly 



46 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

untrue, but it would be in direct conflict with the 
prophecies of chapters 29, 30 and 31. Therefore, as it 
thus clearly appears that the testimony of the song was 
to be given in the future, and after the covenant was 
broken, it must follow that the song was both a witness 
and a prophecy. It could not be a witness in regard to 
events that were to take place in the future, without, 
at the same time, being a prophecy of those same events. 

We will now look at the contents of the 32nd chap- 
ter of Deut. and notice the prophetic phase of the song. 
In verse 5 we read : "They have corrupted themselves, 
their spot is not the spot of his children ; they are a 
perverse and crooked generation." Remembering that 
the covenant had just been renewed, it would be un- 
reasonable to suppose that the language of the above 
verse was intended to apply at that same time. After 
the covenant was broken, in the days of Jeremiah, it 
would be true that "they have corrupted themselves, 
etc." 

The language of this verse shows that it must have 
been addressed to a generation that had apostatized, 
and not to the generation then just being received anew 
into covenant relation. 

Verse 6 : "Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish 
people and unwise? is not he thy father that hath 
bought thee?" Or, as another translation renders it: 
"Is this the return you make to Jehovah? O people 
foolish and unwise." This, like verse 5, must refer to 
some generation of the future, and not to the generation 
living at the time when the covenant was renewed. 
It applies in the days of Jeremiah. See Jer. 4:22: 
"For my people is foolish, they have not known me ; 
they are sottish children, and they have none under- 
standing; they arc wise to do evil, but to do good they 
have no knowledge." 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 47 

Verse 7 : "Remember the days of old, consider the 
years of many generations ; ask thy father, and he will 
shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee." The 
International Commentary here says : "The days of old 
are not the patriarchal age, but the period of the for- 
mation of the nation under Moses, and of its settlement 
in Canaan." The commandment to "remember the days 
of old," etc., therefore, was not addressed to the genera- 
tion living at the time when the song was written, 
because the generation then living were witnesses of 
the "formation of the nation under Moses," and there- 
fore those days were not days of old to them. When 
the song testified, in the days of Jeremiah, the command 
to "remember the days of old" would appear reason- 
able. The days of Moses were then "days of old." 

Verses 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, it will appear, could not 
have been addressed to the generation living when the 
song was written, for the following reason : In verse 
12, the Lord, after speaking of all the manifestations 
of his goodness towards Israel as referred to in the pre- 
ceding verses 8, 9, 10 and 11, speaks as follows in 
verse 12 : "So the Lord alone did lead him, and there 
was no strange god with them." The last clause of 
verse 12, "and there was no strange god with them," 
clearly implies that verse 12 and the preceding verses 
were addressed to a generation that had a "strange 
god" with them. We cannot suppose that the refer- 
ence was to the then present generation, because the 
Lord was at that very time receiving them anew into 
covenant relation, which he would not do if they were 
then worshipers of a "strange god." If we assume the 
days of Jeremiah as our standpoint, and consider the 
above named verses as being- addressed to the genera- 
tion then living, the meaning will appear entirely 
reasonable because they then had "strange gods" among 



48 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laiu. 

them, and that fact had led to the breaking of the 
covenant. See Jer. 2: 11, 12 and 13 : "Hath a nation 
changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my 
people have changed their glory for that which doth 
not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens at this, and be 
horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 
For my people have committed two evils ; they have 
forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and have 
hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold 
no water." 

Thus seen, the two witnesses, Moses and Jeremiah, 
unitedly accuse Israel of idolatry. In Deut. 32 : 13 and 
14, we read as follows: 'Tie made him (Israel) ride 
on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the 
increases of the fields ; and he made him to suck honey 
out of the rock, and oil of the flinty rock ; butter of 
kine, and milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs, and rams 
of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of kid- 
neys of wheat ; and thou didst drink the pure blood of 
the grape." 

In the above two verses the reference is very plain- 
ly to conditions not in existence at the time when the 
song was written, but to conditions that would be true 
in their history at some time after their entrance into 
the land of Canaan. They would enjoy great prosper- 
ity. But they had not yet entered into the land of 
Canaan when the song was written, and, therefore, these 
two verses constitute a prophecy of future prosperity. 

When the song gave its testimony in the days of 
Jeremiah, these prosperous conditions were then in the 
past. See Jer. 2:7: "And I brought you into a 
plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the good- 
ness thereof : but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, 
and made mine heritage an abomination." Dent. 32 : 15 : 
"But Jeshuran waxed fat, and kicked; thou art waxen 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 49 

fat, thou art covered with fatness ; then he forsook 
God which made him, and lightly esteemed the rock 
of his salvation." 

This verse relates to a condition that would result 
from their prosperity after their entrance into the land. 
They would "wax fat," be very prosperous, and as a 
result thereof they would forget God. These conditions 
were not true of Israel at the time when the song was 
written, but they were true in their after history, and 
were especially true when the song gave its testimony 
in the days of Jeremiah. See Jer. 5 : 27 and 28 : "As 
a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit ; 
therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. They 
are waxen fat, they shine ; yea they overpass the deeds 
of the wicked," etc. 

Deut. 32 : 16, 17, 18 and 19 : "They provoked him 
to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations pro- 
voked they him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, 
not to God ; to gods whom they knew not, to new gods 
that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not. Of 
the rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast 
forgotten God that formed thee. And when the Lord 
saw it, he abhorred them, because of the provoking of 
his sons, and of his daughters." It would be utterly 
unreasonable to suppose that such conditions as are 
described in the last named verses were intended to 
apply to Israel at the time when the song was written 
and at the same time when the Lord was receiving 
them anew into covenant relation. Evidently the verses 
constitute a prophecy of conditions that would exist 
in the future. In the days when the covenant was 
broken, in the days of Jeremiah, these conditions were 
all true in their then past history, as the opening chap- 
ters of the book of Jeremiah will abundantly show. 

Deut. 32 : 20 : "And he said, I will hide my face 



50 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laic. 

from them, I will see what their end shall be ; for they 
are a very forward generation, children in whom is no 
faith.'' The reference here must be to Deut. 31 : 17 and 
18, where the Lord said he would hide his face from 
them in the day when the covenant was broken ; and, 
in connection with that thought, had commanded Moses 
to write the song - . We are informed that Moses wrote 
this song the "same day" ; that is, the same day in 
which the Lord had said, "I will surely hide my face 
( from them." Therefore, the scripture of Deut. 31 : 17 
and 18 and Deut. 32 : 20, having both been written on 
the same day, or at the same time, it would hardly 
seem appropiate to write, as in Deut. 32 : 20, "And he 
said," because these words (and he said) express the 
past determination of the Lord and not the present, as 
would seem more natural if both scriptures were writ- 
ten at about the same time, or on the same day. 

This difficulty will disappear when we consider the 
song as a witness testifying in the days of Jeremiah, 
and after the covenant was broken and the trial insti- 
tuted. Then the language "and he said" would refer 
back to Deut. 31 : 17 and 18, when the Lord said "I 
will surely hide my face in that day," the day when the 
covenant would be broken. The covenant was then 
broken and the Lord then hid his face from them as 
shown by the scriptures in Jer. 11 : 10, Jer. 33 : 5 and 
Ezekiel 39:23 and 2 1. 

The Lord did not hide his face from them at the 
time when the song was written: but in the days of 
Jereminh he hid his face from them because the cove- 
nant was then broken. 

Verse 21 : "They have moved me to jealousy with 
that which is not ( rod ; they have provoked me to anger 
with their vanities; and 1 will move them to jealousy 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 51 

with those which are not a people ; I will provoke them 
to anger with a foolish nation." 

We are not to understand that they had "moved 
me (the Lord) to jealousy with that which is not 
God" at the time when the song was written, and at 
the same time when the covenant was renewed. In 
the days of Jeremiah it was true that they had done 
so. Surely, the Lord had not "moved them to jeal- 
ousy with those which are not a people," or "provoked 
them to anger with a foolish nation" at the time when 
the song was written, and right at the same time when 
he was taking them anew into covenant relation. 

In the days of Jeremiah it was true that the Lord 
"moved them to jealousy with those which are not 
a people and provoked them to anger with a foolish 
nation." See Jeremiah 1 : 14 and 15, where the allu- 
sion is to the Lord calling all the families of the north, 
the Babylonians, with whom he then provoked them 
to anger. Therefore, at the time Jeremiah was 
appointed, this verse was true. If we take our stand- 
point at the time when Jeremiah was appointed, and 
from that point of time read this verse 21, as referring 
to two events, one of them as having occurred in the 
past, and the other one as taking place in the present, 
it. will be seen that the first half of the verse refers to 
their idolatry, of which they were then guilty, and that 
the last half refers to the Babylonian invasion which the 
Lord was then bringing upon them, as referred to in 
Jer. 1 : 14 and 15. 

Verses 22, 23, 24 and 25 : "For a fire is kindled in 
mine anger, and shall burn unto the lowest hell, and 
shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on 
fire the foundations of the mountains. I will heap 
mischiefs upon them; I will spend mine arrows upon 
them. They shall be burnt with hunger, and devoured 



52 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazv. 

with burning heat, and with bitter destruction ; I will 
also send the teeth of beasts upon them, with the poison 
of serpents of the dust. The sword without, and 
terror within, shall destroy both the young- man and 
the virgin, the suckling also with the man of gray 
hairs." 

Certainly the punishments here referred to were 
not visited upon Israel at the time when the song was 
written, or at any time in the then early future. They 
evidently belong to the time when the covenant was 
broken, to the time intervening between the appoint- 
ment of Jeremiah and the fall of the kingdom. Con- 
sidered as a prophecy of events that were to take 
place in the future, then we may reasonably suppose 
that the fulfillment of the prophecy occurred in the 
days of Jeremiah when the trial was instituted against 
them on account of the broken covenant, and then 
they were ''rooted out" of their land and the kingdom 
destroyed. 

Deut. 32 : 26 and 27 : "I said I would scatter them 
into corners, I would make the remembrance of them 
to cease from among men, were it not that I feared 
the wrath of the enemy, lest their adversaries should 
behave themselves strangely, and lest they should say, 
Our hand is high, and the Lord hath not done all this.' 
The reference here seems to be to the events of 
Numbers 14:11 to 20. Here the Lord threatened to 
destroy them and to make of Moses "a greater nation." 
Moses, in his prayer, said: "Now if thou shalt kill 
all this people as one man, then the nations which have 
heard the fame of thee will speak, saving, Because the 
Lord was not able to bring this people into the land 
which he sware unto them, therefore he hath slain them 
in the wilderness." The surrounding nations with 
whom Israel had to contend in their journey to the 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 63 

land of Canaan would claim that the God of Israel 
was not able to contend with them, saying : "Our hand 
is high, and the Lord hath not done all this." In order 
that these nations might not thus appear to triumph 
over him, and in answer to the prayer of Moses, the 
Lord said : "I have pardoned according to thy word ; 
but as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with 
the glory of the Lord."' 

In the days of Jeremiah, when the covenant was 
broken, and when the Lord's face was hidden from 
them, and when they said, "Are not these evils come 
upon us because our God is not among us?", these 
words, "were it not that I feared the wrath of 
the enemy," would no longer be effective in withhold- 
ing the coming punishments, because the nation was 
then so steeped in idolatry that they were no longer 
regarded as the people of the Lord, or at least were not 
entitled to present favor, and their destruction could 
no longer be regarded as a reflection on his majesty 
and power by the other nations. Therefore, Deut. 
32 : 26 and 27, as a part of the song testifying against 
them in the days of Jeremiah, was a reminder of the 
events of Numbers 14:11 to 20, implying that their 
destruction as a nation, then threatened, was now near 
at hand. 

Deut. 32 : 28 and 29 : "For they are a nation void 
of council, neither is there any understanding in them. 
O that they were wise, that they understood this, that 
they would consider their latter end." 

These words would seem to have no application 
at the time when they were written, but considered 
as a prophecy of conditions that would be true of them 
at some time in the future, they would appear to have 
their fulfillment in the days of Jeremiah. See 
Jer. 4:22: "For my people is foolish, they have not 



54 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

known me ; they are sottish children, and they have 
none understanding ; they are wise to do evil, but to do 
good they have no knowledge/' 

Deut. 32 : 30 and 31 : "How should one chase a 
thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except 
their Rock had sold them, and the Lord had shut them 
up? For their rock is not as our Rock, even our 
enemies themselves being judges." These verses could 
have no application at the time when written. They 
evidently refer to a time when the Lord would be 
alienated from them, and his face hidden from them. 
This time was in the days of Jeremiah when the cove- 
nant was broken. Considered as a prophecy, the fulfill- 
ment may be found in the conditions that existed in the 
days of Jeremiah and preceding the fall of the king- 
dom. The International Commentary, commenting on 
this scripture, remarks as follows : 

"Israel's disasters are due only to Jehovah's aliena- 
tion, occasioned by Israel's sin ; the verse points to 
military disasters actually experienced by Israel's 
troops, and argues that, as they cannot be reasonably 
attributed to Jehovah's inability to defend his people, 
they must be taken as proof that he has, for some 
sufficient cause, designedly cast them off." 

The "some sufficient cause" for which the Lord 
had "designedly cast them off" was because they had 
broken the covenant. 

Deut. 32 : 32 : "For their vine is of the vine of 
Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah ; their grapes 
are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter." Certainly 
such conditions as are here referred to could have had 
no existence at the time when the covenant was 
renewed. Considered as a prophecy of future condi- 
tions, its fulfillment may be found in the days of 
feremiah. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 55 

See Jer. 2 : 21 : "Yet I had planted thee a noble 
vine, wholly a right seed; how then art thou turned 
into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?" 

Deut. 32 : 33 and 34 : "Their wine is the poison of 
dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this 
laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my 
treasures?" This verse could have no application at 
the time when written, but considered as a prophecy 
of future conditions, its fulfillment may be found in 
the days of Jeremiah. See Jer. 2 : 22 : "For though 
thou wash thee with nitre, and take much sope, yet 
thine iniquity is marked (the Concordance says 
"treasured up") before me, saith the Lord God." 

Deut. 32 : 35 : "To me belongeth vengeance, and 
recompence ; their foot shall slide in due time ; for the 
day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that 
shall come upon them make haste." Here the refer- 
ence is clearly to some time in the distant future, and 
not to the then present. Certainly, there was no 
"calamity" impending at the time when the song was 
written. "Their foot shall slide in due time." This 
certainly points to the future. When was the due 
time? We reply, the beginning of the fulfillment of 
this prophecy may be found in the first chapter of the 
book of Jeremiah. 

In verse 12 we read as follows, in Leeser's trans- 
lation : "And the Lord said unto me, Thou hast well 
seen ; for / am watching over my word to perform it." 

Here, as has been seen, the process of rooting them 
out of their land began, and here, as will be shown, 
a trial was instituted against them on account of the 
fact that the covenant was broken. Here all the 
punishments that were to follow the breaking of the 
covenant were impending. 

This shows that it was now "due time" for the 



56 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

performance of some part of the Lord's word, the 
fulfillment of some prophecy, and that prophecy must 
have been the prophecy of Dent. 32 : 35 : "The day of 
their calamity is (now, in the days of Jeremiah) at 
hand, and the things that shall come upon them (now, 
in the days of Jeremiah) make haste." The Baby- 
lonian invasion was then impending, and the captivitv 
and desolation of the land, to follow as a result of the 
broken covenant, was only forty years in the future. 
Deut. 32:3? and 38: "For the Lord shall judge 
his people, and repent himself for his servants, when 
he seeth their power is gone, and there is none shut 
up, or left. And he shall saw Where are their gods, 
their rock in whom they trusted, which did eat the fat 
of their sacrifices, and drank the wine of their drink 
offerings? let them rise up and help you, and be your 
protection." These words clearly point to the future 
and have no connection with the then present or past. 
We call special attention to the language of verse 37, 
"And he shall say." These words express the future 
determination of the Lord, and not the present or past. 
They clearly refer to a prophecy ; a prophecy in regard 
to certain words which, at some time in the future, 
were to be spoken by the Lord. It was a prophecy 
to the effect that, at some time in the future, the Lord 
would use certain words in the asking of a certain 
question. The words to be spoken, and the question 
to be asked, by the Lord, were: "Where are their gods, 
their rock in whom they trusted ; let them rise up and 
help you, and be your protection, etc." Now, at what 
time in the future were these words spoken by the 
Lord ? Or, at what time in the future was this question 
asked by the Lord in fulfillment of this prophecy? We 
reply, the prophecy was fulfilled in the days of 
Jeremiah. See Jer. 2 : 28 : "But where are thy gods 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 57 

that thou hast made thee? let them rise, if they can 
save thee in the time of trouble; for according to the 
number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah." 

Verse 39 to the end of the song appears to refer 
to blessings to be conferred on Israel after their 
afflictions are ended, and to punishments to be after- 
ward inflicted on their enemies. 

Having shown, as we think has been done, that the 
song of Moses, in the 32nd chapter of Deut., was not 
intended to be, and that it could not have been, such a 
witness, primarily, as it is commonly supposed to have 
been, we will now endeavor to show the true signifi- 
cation of the song as a witness, and its application 
to the breaking of the covenant. Having endeavored 
to show that a trial of Israel, on the charge of breaking 
the covenant, was implied in the 31st chapter of Deut. 
we will now show that a trial was instituted against 
them on account of the broken covenant, nine hundred 
and twenty-nine years after the days of Moses, and, 
that during the progress of this trial, the book of the 
Law appeared before them as a witness in fulfillment 
of Deut. 31:26, and also, the song as a witness for 
the Lord against them performed its mission in 
fulfillment of Deut. 31 : 19. 

We would not presume to say, positively, just 
how this trial was held, the manner of its procedure 
and its full results. In other words we would not say 
arbitrarily that it was in this way and in no other 
way. It is written that, "as the heavens are higher 
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways." 
Therefore we would not presume to make known any 
of the Lord's plans that are not revealed. We will 
show that a trial was instituted, and will reverently 
endeavor to show how it progressed and terminated, 



58 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laic. 

leaving the reader to determine for himself as to the 
correctness of the views herein set forth. 

In Detit. 29 : 29, where the reference appears to be 
to the rooting out process, as mentioned in the preced- 
ing verse 28, we are informed that : "The secret things 
belong unto the Lord our God ; but those things which 
are revealed belong unto us and to our children for- 
ever, that we may do all the words of this law." One of 
our authorities on this verse remarks as follows : 
"The secret things of this verse were the things which 
God had not revealed regarding Israel's future — 
especially the time and manner of the fulfillment of 
those promises and threatenings which were made 
contingent on their obedience or disobedience." 
Whether those "secret things" were ever to be revealed 
or not, may be a question ; and some may think it is 
unprofitable or wrong for us to attempt to enquire 
into them. 

Let us bear in mind this fact, however, that, if 
they were never to be revealed, then it follows that our 
authorities before quoted, and all the authorities that 
have ever written about it, certainly know no more 
about it than we do ourselves. The song testified as 
a witness against them, that is, in support of an accusa- 
tion made against them by the Lord on account of 
their idolatry which led to the breaking of the cove- 
nant. The book of the Law, including the song, also 
testified before King Josiah, and was afterwards pro- 
claimed by Jeremiah before all the people, as a witness 
against them. As the written copy of the song was 
included in the book of the Law, and with the book 
of the Law was lost sight of until found in the days 
of King Josiah, the song, when it appeared against 
them as a witness, could not have been recognized as 
such, unless it had been orally transmitted down 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 59 

through the generations of Israel to the generation 
living at the time when the book was found in the days 
of Josiah. This, it appears, was the reason why this 
song was to "abide" with Israel. Not, primarily, to 
serve as a standing admonition to them to take heed 
of forsaking God, but that at the time when the cove- 
nant would be broken, and the testimony of the song 
given, it might be recognized and identified as a 
witness against them. 

Assuming it as true that Israel was to be arraigned 
for trial on the charge of idolatry, and breaking the 
covenant, the question may be asked, Why did the 
Lord require a witness, or why should the Lord insti- 
tute a trial against Israel? It would appear that he 
knew of their guilt or innocence without the formality 
of a trial, and therefore both the trial and a witness 
were unnecessary. In answer to this question, it was in 
order to comply with the terms of the law. 

The Lord having established a law, which we have 
before referred to (Deut. 17:2 to 6), making the 
transgression of the covenant an offense punishable 
with death, and providing for a trial of the accused 
before he could be adjudged as guilty, it therefore 
follows that, in the case of Israel, being charged with 
the same offense, they must be dealt with in accord- 
ance with the law. The Lord would not violate the 
law that he himself had established. Therefore, Israel 
must be arraigned for trial. 

Further, in connection with the above mentioned 
law (Deut. 17:6), it was expressly provided that at 
least two witnesses must testify to the guilt of the 
accused before he could be found guilty. Therefore, 
in the case of Israel, in order to comply with the law, 
two witnesses must be provided before they could be 
found guilty. 



60 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law 

Dent. 17: 6: "At the mouth of two witnesses, or 
three witnesses, shall he that is worthy of death be 
put to death ; but at the mouth of one witness he shall 
not be put to death." The same law as to witnesses 
is referred to in other places. See Deut. 19 : 15 : 
"One witness shall not rise up against a man for an\ 
iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth ; at 
the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three 
witnesses shall the matter be established." At a time 
in the future, when the covenant would be broken, 
the Lord would arraign Israel on account of the 
offense; and at that time he would bring an accusa- 
tion against them. 

This song, as a witness, would testify in support 
of that accusation, and thus the song would be "a 
witness for me (the Lord) against the children of 
Israel." 

The Lord, as the accuser, would be the first 
witness, and the song, testifying in support of the 
accusation, would be the second witness, and thus the 
two witnesses required by the law would be provided. 

The Lord, having determined to "root out" Israel 
from their land on account of the broken covenant, 
appointed Jeremiah as his representative, or his 
"Vicegerent" for that purpose. At the same time, 
as we will see, he instituted a trial against Israel, which 
trial was a part of the rooting out process, and pre- 
liminary to the final removal of Israel from the land. 
The first thing necessary in the progress of the trial 
was the accusation against Israel on account of their 
idolatry ; and hence Jeremiah was the human instru- 
ment used by the Lord to bring against Israel the 
accusation. 

Therefore, while the work was all of and by the 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 61 

Lord, it may be said that Jeremiah, as his representa- 
tive, was the accusing witness. 

The song having been written by Moses, as a 
witness against Israel, and in support of the accusation, 
Moses, therefore, may also be called the witness 
testifying in support of the accusation. Thus, it may 
be that, Jeremiah and Moses were the witnesses who 
testified at the trial ; or, perhaps it might be said that 
the Law and the Prophets testified against them. 

We will now endeavor to show how the song 
testified to the accusation, or in the support of the 
accusation ; also to show what constituted the accusa- 
tion. The Pulpit Commentary, on the 2nd chapter of 
Jeremiah, says : "The whole group of prophecies to 
which chapter 2 belongs contains numerous points 
of contact, in ideas and phraseology, with the song of 
Moses.*' (Deut. 32.) 

The whole group of prophecies referred to 
includes the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th chapters of 
Jeremiah. The above quotation in regard to the 
''points of contact" is in full accord with the idea we 
have advanced regarding the song as a witness. The 
"points of contact," or agreement referred to, are neces- 
sary in order that the testimony of the song may 
sustain the accusation. There must be "points of con- 
tact," or points of agreement between two witnesses, 
in order that one witness may be sustained by the 
other. Otherwise, the witnesses would not agree. As 
these opening chapters of the book of Jeremiah consti- 
tute an accusation against Israel on account of their 
idolatry, and as this song was to be a witness in 
support of that accusation, there must be points of 
contact or agreement in order that the accusation 
may be sustained by the witness. The scriptures 
showing the "points of contact" referred to, are as 
follows : all of them taken from the Commentary. 



62 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

Compare Jer. 2:5 with Deut. 32:4. 

Compare Jer. 2:11, 12 with Deut. 32:1 and 21. 

Compare jer. 2 : 26 to 28 with Deut. 32 : 6, 18, 
SI and 38. 

Compare Jer. 2 : 20 with Deut. 32 : 15. 

Compare Jer. 3 : 19 with Deut. 32 : 6. 

Compare Jer. 2:31 with Deut. 32:5. 

Compare Jer. 4 : 22 with Deut. 32 : 5 and 6. 

Compare Jer. 5:21 with Deut. 32 : 5. 

Compare Jer. 5 : 7 with Deut. 32 : 15. 

Compare Jer. 5:14 with Deut. 32:22. 

Compare Jer. 5 : 28 with Deut. 32 : 15. 

Compare Jer. 6:11 with Deut. 32:25. 

Compare Jer. 6 : 15 with Deut. 32 : 35. 

Compare Jer. 6 : 19 and 20 with Deut. 32 : 18, 19 
and 20. 

A comparison of the above named scriptures will 
show the relation of a witness to, or in support of, 
an accusation ; Deut. 32 testifying in support of an 
accusation contained in the chapters named in the 
book of Jeremiah. 

Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, of the book of Jeremiah, 
as claimed by some authorities, was the first "oracle" 
delivered by Jeremiah. This was in the 13th year of 
the reign of Josiah. These chapters, as is claimed by 
the authorities referred to, should be read together. 
The accusation against Israel on account of their 
idolatry, in support of which accusation the song 
testifies, is found within these chapters. It is not 
claimed that these chapters constitute a continuous 
accusation ; neither is it claimed that they contain the 
entire accusation. It is thought that the entire accusa- 
tion is contained within the hounds of chapter 2 to 
chapter 11. The trial seems to have been instituted, 
not only against the kingdom of Judah, but also 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 63 

against the kingdom or house of Israel; and therefore 
a part of the accusation is especially directed to the 
latter house or kingdom. 

The breaking- of the covenant was a national 
offense, and the trial must be national in its character, 
embracing the two houses of Israel. 

A writer on Deut. 29 : 22 to 24, says : "It is evident 
from this that Moses contemplates, and in fact here 
predicts, a defection, not of individuals or families 
merely, but of the nation as a whole." Again: "No 
nation as a public act apostatizes, but it gets rotten 
through individual action. When then a number of 
units, under the delusion that as units they shall escape, 
betake themselves to evil courses, blessing themselves 
in their hearts, saying, I shall have peace, though 
I walk in the imagination of my heart, to add drunken- 
ness to thirst, then does rottenness enter into the state 
of Denmark." In order to illustrate the application 
of the song as a witness to, or in support of the accusa- 
tion, we will take such passages from these chapters 
of the book of Jeremiah as are parts of the accusation, 
and then take such parts of the song as will apply as 
a witness, and bring them together in parallel columns ; 
thus bringing to the mind and the eye, at the same time, 
the accusation and the testimony of the witness in 
support of the accusation. This is done merely by way 
of illustration. It is believed that a study of the 
accusation and the witness, as a whole, will reveal a 
more satisfactory answer than can otherwise be given. 

Think of this song as though it was an individual 
witness, standing in the days of Jeremiah, and testi- 
fying in support of an accusation then brought against 
them by the Lord, on account of their idolatry which 
led to the breaking of the covenant. 



64 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 



THE ACCUSATION. 
Jer. 2 : verses 2, 3, 4. 

Go and cry in the ears of 
Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith 
the Lord ; I remember thee 
the kindness of thy youth, the 
love of thine espousals, when 
thou wentest after me in the 
wilderness, in a land that was 
not sown. Israel was holiness 
unto the Lord, and the first 
fruits of his increase ; all that 
devour him shall offend; evil 
shall come upon them, saith 
the Lord. 



THE WITNESS. 
Deut. 32: verses 6, 7, 8, 9. 

Do you thus requite the 
Lord, O foolish people and 
unwise ? Is not he thy father 
that hath bought thee? Hath 
he not made thee, and estab- 
lished thee? Remember the 
days of old, consider the years 
of many generations ; ask thy 
father, and he will shew thee ; 
thy elders, and they will tell 
thee. 

When the Most High di- 
vided to the nations their 
inheritance, when he sepa- 
rated the sons of Adam, he 
set the bounds of the people 
according to the number of 
the children of Israel. 

For the Lord's portion is 
his people ; Jacob is the lot 
of his inheritance. 



Jer. 2 : verses 4, 5. 

Hear ye the word of the 
Lord, O house of Jacob, and 
all the families of the house 
of Israel. 

Thus saith the Lord, What 
iniquity have your fathers 
found in me, that they are 
gone far from me, and have 
walked after vanity, and are 
become vain? 



Deut. 32: verses 1, 4. 

Give ear, O ye heavens, and 
I will speak; and hear, O 
earth, the words of my mouth. 

He is the Rock, his work 
is perfect ; for all his ways 
are judgment; a God of truth 
and without iniquity, just and 
right is he. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 



65 



Jer. 2: verse 6. 

Neither said they, Where 
is the Lord that brought us 
up out of the land of Egypt, 
that led us through the wil- 
derness, through a land of 
deserts and of pits, through a 
land of drought, and of the 
shadow of death, through a 
land that no man passed 
through, and where no man 
dwelt? 



Deut. 32 : verses 10, 11, 12. 

He found him in a desert 
land, and in the waste howl- 
ing wilderness ; he led him 
about, he instructed him, he 
kept him as the apple of his 
eye. 

As an eagle stirreth up her 
nest, fluttereth over her 
young, spreadeth abroad her 
wings, taketh them, beareth 
them on her wings ; so the 
Lord did lead him, and there 
was no strange god with him. 



Jer. 2: verse 7. 

And I brought you into a 
plentiful country, to eat the 
fruit thereof and goodness 
thereof; but when ye entered 
ye denied my land, and made 
mine heritage an abomination. 



Deut. 32: verses 13, 14, 15. 
He made him ride on the 
hisrh places of the earth, that 
he might eat the increase of 
the fields; and he made him 
to suck honey out of the rock 
and oil out of the flinty rock ; 
butter of kine, and milk of 
sheep, with fat of lambs, and 
rams of the breed of Bashan, 
and goats, with the fat of kid- 
neys of wheat ; and thou didst 
drink the pure blood of the 
grape. But Jeshuran waxed 
fat, and kicked; thou art 
waxen fat, thou art grown 
thick, thou art covered with 
fatness ; then he forsook God 
which made him and lightly 
esteemed the rock of his 
salvation. 



66 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lai 



Jer. 2: verse 8. 

The priests said not, Where 
is the Lord? and they that 
handle the law knew me not, 
the pastors also transgressed 
against me, and the prophets 
prophesied by Baal, and 
walked after things that do 
not profit. 



Deut. 32: verses 18, 19. 

Of the Rock that begat thee 
thou art unmindful, and hast 
forgotten God that formed 
thee. And when the Lord 
saw it, he abhorred them, be- 
cause of the provoking of his 
sons and of his daughters. 



Jer. 2 : verse 11. 

Hath a nation changed their 
gods which are yet not gods ? 
but my people have changed 
their glory for that which 
doth not profit. 



Deut. 32 : verses 16, 17. 

They provoked him to jeal- 
ousy with strange gods, with 
abominations provoked they 
him to anger. They sacri- 
ficed unto devils, not to God ; 
to gods whom they knew not, 
to new gods that came newly 
up, whom your fathers feared 
not. 



Jer. 2 : verses 12, 13. 

Be astonished, O ye heav- 
ens, at this, and be horribly 
afraid, be ye very desolate 
saith the Lord. For my peo- 
ple have committed two evils ; 
they have forsaken me the 
fountain of living waters, and 
hewed them out cisterns, 
broken cisterns, that can hold 
no water. 



Deut. 32 : verses 17, 21. 

They sacrificed unto devils, 
not to God; to gods whom 
they knew not, to new gods 
that came newly up, whom 
your fathers feared not. They 
have moved me to jealousy 
with that which is not God; 
they have provoked me to 
anger with their vanities ; and 
I will move them to jealousy 
with them which are not a 
people ; I will provoke them 
t.> anger with a foolish nation. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazv. 



67 



Jer. 2 : verse 19. 

Thine own wickedness shall 
correct thee, and thy back- 
slidings shall provoke thee ; 
know therefore and see that 
it is an evil thing and bitter 
that thou hast forsaken the 
Lord thy God, and that my 
fear is not in thee, saith the 
Lord God of hosts. 



Deut. 32: verses 18, 19. 

Of the Rock that begat 
thee thou art unmindful, and 
hast forgoltten God that 
formed' thee. And when the 
Lord saw it, he abhorred 
them, because of the provok- 
ing of his sons and of his 
daughters. 



Jer. 2: verse 20. 

For of old time I have 
broken thy yoke, and burst 
thy bands ; and thou saidst 
I will not transgress; when 
upon every high hill and 
under every green tree thou 
wanderest playing the harlot. 



Deut. 32: verse 16. 

They provoked him to 
jealousy with strange gods, 
with abominations provoked 
they him to anger. 



Jer. 2: verse 21. 

Yet I had planted thee a 
noble vine, wholly a right 
seed ; how then art thou 
turned into the degenerate 
plant of a strange vine unto 
me? 



Deut. 32 : verse 32. 

For their vine is of the 
vine of Sodom, and of the 
fields of Gomorrah; their 
grapes are grapes of gall, 
their clusters are bitter. 



Jer. 2 : verse 22. 

For though thou wash thee 
with nitre, and take much 
sope, yet thine iniquity is 
marked (treasured up) be- 
fore me, saith the Lord God. 



Deut. 32: verses 33, 34. 

Their wine is the poison of 
dragons, and the cruel venom 
of asps. Is not this laid up 
in store with me, and sealed 
up among my treasures? 



6S 



The Broken Covenant end the Book of the Law. 



Jer. 2 : verses 23, 24. 25. 

How canst thou say, I am 
not polluted, I have not gone 
after Baalim? see thy way 
in the valley, know what 
thou hast done ; thou art 
a swift dromedary traversing 
her ways ; a wild ass used 
to the wilderness, that snuff- 
eth up her wind at her pleas- 
ure ; in her occasion who can 
turn her away? all they that 
seek her will not weary them- 
selves ; in her month they 
shall find her. Withhold thy 
foot from being unshod, and 
thy throat from thirst; but 
thou saidst, There is no 
hope; no; for I have loved 
strangers, and after them 
will I go. 



Deut. 32 : verses 17, 18, 19, 20. 
They sacrificed unto devils, 
not to God; to gods whom 
they knew not, to new gods 
that came newly up, whom 
your fathers feared not. Of 
the Rock that begat thee thou 
art unmindful, and hast for- 
gotten God that formed thee. 
And when the Lord saw it 
he abhorred them, because of 
the provoking of his sons 
and of his daughters. And 
he said I will hide my face 
from them, I will see what 
their end shall be; for they 
are a very forward genera- 
tion, children in whom is no 
faith. 



Jer. 2 : verses 26, 27, 28. 

As a thief is ashamed when 
he is found, so is the house 
of Israel ashamed; they, 
their kings, their princes, and 
their priests, and their 
prophets. 

Saying to a stock thou art 
my father; and to a stone 
thou hast brought me forth; 
for they have turned their 
back unto me, and not their 
face; but in the time of their 
trouble they will say, Arise 
and save us. But where are 
thy gods that thou hast made 
thee? let them arise if they 
can save in the time of thy 
trouble; for according to the 
number of thy cities are thy 
gods O Judah. 



Deut. 32 : verses 16, 17, 37, 38. 

They provoked him to jeal- 
ousy with strange gods, with 
abominations provoked they 
him to anger. They sacri- 
ficed unto devils, not to God ; 
to gods whom they knew not, 
to new gods that came newly 
up, whom your fathers feared 
not. 

And he shall say, Where 
are their gods, their rock in 
whom they trusted, which 
did eat the fat of their sac- 
rifices, and drink the wine of 
their drink offerings? let 
them rise up and help you 
and be your protection. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 



69 



Jer. 2 : verse 31. 

O generation, see ye the 
word of the Lord. Have I 
been a wilderness unto Israel? 
a land of darkness? where- 
fore say my people, We are 
Lords; we will come no 
more unto thee? 



Deut. 32: verses 7, 9. 

Remember the days of old, 
consider the years of many 
generations ; ask thy father 
and he will shew thee ; thy 
elders, and they will tell thee. 
For the Lord's portion is his 
people ; Jacob is the lot of his 
inheritance. 



Jer. 2: verse 32. 

Can a maid forget her or- 
naments, or a bride her attire ? 
yet my people have forgotten 
me days without number. 



Deut. 32 : verse 18. 

Of the Rock that begat thee 
thou art unmindful, and hast 
forgotten God that formed 
thee. 



Jer. 2 : verse 34. 

Also in thy skirts is found 
the blood of the souls of the 
poor innocents ; I have not 
found it by secret search, but 
upon all these. 



Deut. 32 : verse 19. 

And when the Lord saw 
it he abhorred them, because 
of the provoking of his sons,, 
and of his daughters. 



70 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazv. 



Jer. 3 : verses 2, 3. 

Lift up thine eyes unto the 
high places, and see where 
thou hast not been lien with. 
In the ways hast thou sat for 
them, as the Arabian in the 
wilderness; and thou hast 
polluted the land with thy 
whoredoms and with thy 
wickedness. Therefore the 
showers have been with- 
holden, and there hath been 
no latter rain; and thou hast 
a whore's forehead, and thou 
refusest to be ashamed. 



Deut. 32: verses 16, 17, IS. 

They provoked him to jeal- 
ousy with strange gods, with 
abominations provoked they 
him to anger. They sacrificed 
unto devils, not to God; to 
gods whom they knew not, 
to new gods that came newly 
up, whom your fathers feared 
not. Of the Rock that begat 
thee thou art unmindful, and 
hast forgotten God that 
formed thee. 






Jer. 3 : verse 6. 

The Lord said unto me in 
the days of Josiah the king, 
Hast thou seen that which 
backsliding Israel hath done? 
she has gone up upon every 
high mountain and under 
every green tree, and there 
hath played the harlot. 



Deut. 32: verse 21. 

They have moved me to 
jealousy with that which is 
not God; they have provoked 
me to anger with their vani- 
ties; and I will move them 
to jealousy with those which 
are not a people ; I will pro- 
voke them to anger with a 
foolish nation. 



Jer. 4 : verse 22. 

For my people is foolish, 
they have not known me; 
they are sottish children, and 
they have none understand- 
ing; they are wise to do evil, 
but to do good they have no 
knowledge. 



Deut. 32: verse 28. 

For they are a nation void 
of council, neither is there 
any understanding in them. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 



71 



Jer. 4: verses 20, 23, 24, 25, 
26, 27, 28. 
Destruction upon destruc- 
tion is cried ; for the whole 
land is spoiled ; suddenly are 
my tents spoiled, and my cur- 
tains in a moment. I beheld 
the earth, and lo, it was with- 
out form, and void; and the 
heavens, and they had no 
light. I beheld the moun- 
tains, and lo, they trembled, 
and all the hills moved 
lightly. I beheld, and lo, 
there was no man, and all the 
birds of the heavens were 
fled. I beheld, and lo, the 
fruitful place was a wilder- 
ness, and all the cities there- 
of were broken down at the 
presence of the Lord, and by 
his fierce anger. For thus 
hath the Lord said, The whole 
land shall be desolate; yet 
will I not make a full end. 
For this shall the earth 
mourn, and the heavens 
above be black; I have pur- 
posed it, and will not repent, 
neither will I turn back from 
it. 



Deut. 32 : verses 22, 23, 24, 25. 
For a fire is kindled in 
mine anger, and shall burn 
unto the lowest hell, and shall 
consume the earth with her 
increase, and set on fire the 
foundations of the mountains. 
I will heap mischiefs upon 
them. They shall be burnt 
with hunger, and devoured 
with burning heat, and with 
bitter destruction ; I will 
send the teeth of beasts upon 
them, with the poison of ser- 
pents of the dust. The sword 
without, and terror within, 
shall destroy both the young 
man and the virgin, the suck- 
ling also with the man of 
gray hairs. 



Jer. 4: verse 27. 

For thus hath the Lord 
said, The whole land shall be 
desolate, yet will I not make 
a full end. 

Jer. 5: verse 10. 

Go ye upon her walls, and 
destroy; but make not a full 
end. 



Deut. 32: verse 43. 

Rejoice, O ye nations, with 
his people; for he will 
avenge the blood of his ser- 
vants, and will render ven- 
geance to his adversaries, and 
will be merciful unto his 
land, and to his people. 



■2 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of tlie Lai 



Jer. 5 : verse 7. 

How shall I pardon thee for 
this? thy children have for- 
saken me, and sworn by them 
that are no gods ; when I 
had fed them to the full, they 
then committed adultery, and 
assembled themselves by 
troops in the harlots houses. 



Deut. 32 : verse 17. 

They sacrificed unto devils, 
not to God ; to gods whom 
they knew not, to new gods 
that came newly up, whom 
your fathers feared not. 



Jer. 5 : verse 6. 

Wherefore a lion out of 
the forest shall slay them, 
and a wolf of the evenings 
shall spoil them, a leopard 
shall watch over their cities; 
every one that goeth out 
thence shall be torn in pieces ; 
because their transgressions 
are many, and their backslid- 
ings are increased. 



Deut. 35: verse 24. 

They shall be burnt with 
hunger, and devoured with 
burning heat, and with bitter 
destruction ; I will also send 
the teeth of beasts upon them, 
with the poison of the ser- 
pents of the dust. 



Jer. 4 : verses 5, 6, 7. 

Declare ye in Judah, and 
publish in Jerusalem; and 
say, Blow ye the trumpet in 
the land ; cry, gather together, 
and say, Assemble yourselves, 
and let us go into the de- 
fenced cities. Set up the 
standard toward Zion ; retire, 
stay not, for I will bring evil 
from the north, and a great 
destruction. The lion is come 
up from his thicket, and the 
destroyer of the Gentiles is 
on his way; he is gone forth 
from his place to make thy 
land desolate ; and thy cities 
shall be laid waste, without 
an inhabitant. 



Deut. 32 : verses 21, 24. 

They have moved me to 
jealousy with that which is 
not God; they have provok- 
ed me to anger with their 
vanities; and I will move 
them to jealousy with those 
which are not a people; I 
will provoke them to anger 
with a foolish nation. They 
shall be burnt with hunger, 
and devoured with burning 
heat, and with bitter destruc- 
tion ; I will send the teeth 
of beasts upon them, with the 
poison of the serpents of the 
dust. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 



73 



Jer. 5 : verses 8, 12, 13 to 19. 

They were as fed horses in 
the morning; every one 
neighed after his neighbour's 
wife. They have belied the 
Lord, and said, it is not he ; 
neither shall evil come upon 
us ; neither shall we see 
sword nor famine; and the 
prophets shall become wind, 
and the word is not in 
them; thus shall it be done 
unto them. Wherefore thus 
saith the Lord God of hosts, 
Because ye speak this word, 
behold I will make my 
words in thy mouth fire, and 
this people wood, and it shall 
devour them. Lo, I will bring 
a nation upon you from far, 
O house of Israel, saith the 
Lord; it is a mighty nation, 
it is an ancient nation, a na- 
tion whose language thou 
knowest not, neither under- 
standest what they say. Their 
quiver is an open sepulchre, 
they are all mighty men. And 
they shall eat up thine har- 
vest, and thy bread, which 
thy sons and thy daughters 
should eat; they shall eat 
up thy flocks and thine herds ; 
they shall eat up thy vines 
and thy fig trees; they shall 
impoverish thy fenced cities, 
wherein thou trustest, with 
the sword. Nevertheless in 
those days, saith the Lord, I 
will not make a full end with 
you. 



Deut. 32: verses 41, 42, 24, 
21, 43. 

If I whet my glittering 
sword, and mine hand take 
hold on judgment; I will 
render vengeance to mine 
enemies, and will reward 
them that hate me. I will 
make mine arrows drunk 
with blood, and my sword 
shall devour flesh; and that 
with the blood of the slain 
and of the captives, from the 
beginning of revenges upon 
the enemy. 

They shall be burnt with 
hunger, and devoured with 
burning heat, and with bitter 
destruction; I will also send 
the teeth of beasts upon them, 
with the poison of serpents of 
the dust. 

They have moved me to 
jealousy with that which is 
not God ; they have provoked 
me to anger with their vani- 
ties ; and I will move them to 
jealousy with those which are 
not a people; I will provoke 
them to anger with a foolish 
nation. 

Rejoice, O ye nations, with 
his people ; for he will avenge 
the blood of his servants, and 
will render vengeance to his 
adversaries, and will be 
merciful unto his land, and to 
his people. 



74 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 



Jer. 5: verses 27, 28, 29. 

As a cage is full of birds, 
so are their houses full of 
deceit ; therefore they are 
become great, and waxen 
rich. They are waxen fat, 
they shine; yea, they over- 
pass the deeds of the wicked ; 
they judge not the cause, the 
cause of the fatherless, yet 
they prosper; and the right 
of the needy do they not 
judge. Shall I not visit for 
these things? saith the Lord; 
shall not my soul be avenged 
on such a nation as this? 



Deut. 32 : verse 15. 

But Jeshurun waxed fat, 
and kicked ; thou art waxen 
fat, thou art grown thick, 
thou art covered with fat- 
ness; then he forsook God 
which made him and lightly 
esteemed the Rock of his sal- 
vation. 



Jer. 6 : verse 11. 

Therefore I am full of the 
fury of the Lord ; I am weary 
with holding in; I will pour 
it out upon the children 
abroad, and upon the assem- 
bly of young men together; 
for even the husband with the 
wife shall be taken, the aged 
with him that is full of days. 



Deut. 32 : verse 25. 

The sword without, and 
terror within, shall destroy 
both the young man and the 
virgin, the suckling also with 
the man of gray hairs. 



Jer. 6 : verse 15. 

Were they ashamed when 
they had committed abomi- 
nation? nay, they were not 
at all ashamed, neither could 
they blush ; therefore they 
shall fall among them that 
fall ; at the time that I visit 
them they shall be cast down, 
saith the Lord. 



Deut. 32 : verse 35. 

To me belongeth vengeance, 
and recompence; their foot 
shall slide in due time ; for 
the day of their calamity is at 
hand, and the things that 
shall come upon them make 
haste. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 



75 



Jer. 6 : verses 22, 23. 

Thus saith the Lord, Be- 
hold, a people cometh from 
the north country, and a great 
nation shall be raised from 
the sides of the earth. They 
shall lay hold on bow and 
spear; they are cruel, and 
have no mercy; their voice 
roareth like the sea ; and they 
ride upon horses, set in array 
as men for war against thee, 
O daughter of Zion. 



Deut. 32 : verses 21, 24. 

They have moved me to 
jealousy with that which is 
not God ; they have provoked 
me to anger with their vani- 
ties ; and I will move them 
to jealousy with those which 
are not a people; I will pro- 
voke them to anger with a 
foolish nation. They shall be 
burnt with hunger, and de- 
voured with burning heat, 
and with bitter destruction; 
I will send the teeth of 
beasts upon them, with the 
poison of the serpents of the 
dust. 



We will close this chapter with the following brief 
recapitulation of the arguments showing that the song 
and the book of the Law could not have been such 
witnesses as are described by the authorities we have 
quoted. 

1st. We have seen that both the book of the Law 
and the song, as witnesses, refer to one and the same 
offense, the breaking of the covenant; and that if 
either one of them was intended to be such a witness 
as is described by the authorities we have quoted, the 
other one must also be the same kind of a witness. 
As the book of the Law could not have been such a 
witness, it follows that the song was not such a witness. 

2nd. We have shown that the breaking of the 
covenant was an offense against the law, and that a 
trial was therefore necessary; and that the song as a 
witness was to testify at that trial. As the witness 
described by the authorities we have quoted could not 






76 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

thus testify, it was not such a witness as the Lord 
prepared. 

3rd. We have shown that the logic of the 
authorities quoted must lead to the conclusion that ths 
song, as a witness, was prepared to prevent Israel from 
breaking the covenant ; and we have also seen that 
such a conclusion could not be true, because the Lord 
said they would break the covenant. The Lord, 
having foreseen that they would break the covenant, 
would not prepare a witness to prevent Israel from 
doing what he foresaw they would do. Therefore, 
the song could not be such a witness as they describe. 

4th. We have seen that this song was to be a 
witness for the Lord against Israel ; and that a witness 
to serve as an admonition, or to "rise up" in the 
memory of the people, in order to condemn them on 
account of their idolatry, and thus prevent the breaking 
of the covenant, would be a witness for Israel, and not 
a witness for the Lord against Israel. Therefore, 
the witness described by the authorities named would 
not meet the requirements here demanded. 

5th. We have seen in Deut. 31 : 21 that this song 
was to testify (answer or respond, as the Concordance 
says) before Israel, or in the presence of Israel; and, 
therefore, a witness such as the one described by the 
authorities we have quoted could not thus testify, 
and consequently could not be such a witness as the 
Lord had prepared. 

6th. We have seen that the witness described by 
our authorities must testify both before and after the 
covenant was broken ; and the scriptures plainly show 
that the song, as a witness, was not to testify until 
after the covenant was broken. Therefore, the witness 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 77 

described by our authorities would not here answer to 
the requirements. 

Having thus shown that the song was not intended 
to be such a witness as the authorities have described, 
we conclude that it was intended to be such a witness 
as we have spoken of; a witness to testify at a trial 
on account of the broken covenant. This conclusion 
will appear to be a reasonable one if we can show that 
such a trial was held, and if we can show that the book 
of the Law and the song testified at the trial. This 
we will endeavor to show in the next chapter. 



78 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law 



CHAPTER III. 



THE TRIAL. 

Assuming it as true that a trial is implied in the 
scripture of Deut. 31 : 16 to 27, and that the song was 
prepared as a witness to testify at that trial, on account 
of their idolatry and the broken covenant, what evi- 
dence have we showing that such a trial was ever 
instituted ? 

If it can be shown that such a trial was held, and if 
the trial and the time of the trial can be scripturally 
pointed out, that fact would go far to prove that the 
explanation herein given is the true one. 

If it is found that this trial was instituted at the 
time when Jeremiah was appointed, as will be shown 
that it was, that fact would prove the truthfulness of 
what we have already established. That is, we have 
before shown that the covenant was broken at the time 
when Jeremiah was appointed because the process of 
rooting them out of the land began at that time. Now, 
if it is found that at that same time when Jeremiah 
was appointed, a trial was instituted against them, on 
account of their idolatry and the broken covenant, that 
would prove that the covenant was then broken, be- 
cause the trial could not be instituted until the covenant 
icas broken. 

Their idolatry led lo the breaking of the covenant, 
and the breaking of the covenant led to the trial; there- 
fore, the institution of the trial would show, as cause 






The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 79 

must precede effect, that the covenant was broken at 
this time. Thus we would have the fact that the cove- 
nant was broken at this time established by two lines 
of evidence ; first, by the fact that the process of rooting 
them out of their land here began, and secondly, by 
the fact that the trial was here instituted against them. 

That a trial, not only for Israel, but for the world, 
was contemplated before the days of Jeremiah, will 
be evident from the following scriptures. See Hose<h. 
4:1: "For the Lord hath a controversy with the 
inhabitants of the land.'' Also see Hosea 12 : 2 : "The 
Lord hath a controversy with Judah and will punish 
Jacob according to his ways." See Micah 6 : 1 and 2 : 
"Hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and 
ye strong foundations of the earth ; for the Lord hath 
a controversy with his people, and he will plead with 
Israel." The prophets Micah and Hosea have much 
to say in regard to this controversy, its causes, etc. 
See also Jeremiah 25 : 31 : "For the Lord hath a 
controversy with the nations, he will plead with all 
flesh." The meaning of the word "controversy," as 
used in the above named passages, as given in Young's 
Concordance, is "Strife, Contention, Pleading, Cause," 
and refers to a trial at law. See Deut. 17 : 8 ; Deut. 
19 : 16 and 18 ; Deut. 25 : 1, and II Samuel 15 : 2 to 5. 
Here, in the above named places, the reference is clearly 
to a trial at law between the parties mentioned ; show- 
ing that the word "controversy" refers to a trial. In 
II Samuel 15 : 4, the Hebrew word which is translated 
"controversy" in the passages we have above quoted, 
is rendered "suit," referring to a suit at law. 

These scriptures show that the Lord had in view 
a trial, not only for Israel, but for all nations and all 
flesh. Jeremiah was appointed, or "set over," not only 
the nation of Israel, but all nations. He was to proph- 



80 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

csy in regard to the trial of all nations, including the 
nation of Israel. 

The beginning of this "controversy" or trial, so far 
as the same applied to the kingdom of Judah or Israel, 
is marked by the 16th verse of the first chapter of the 
book of Jeremiah. The accusation begins with the 
2nd verse of the 2nd chapter, where Jeremiah is 
commanded to go and cry or proclaim in the ears of 
Jerusalem. The accusation, mingled with calls to 
repentance and threatenings of punishments at the 
hands of the Babylonians, continues through chapters 
2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, and possibly to chapter 11. 

The beginning of the trial was in the 13th year of 
the reign of King Jqsiah, and forty years prior to the 
fall of the kingdom. Five years later, or in the 18th 
year of the reign of Josiah, the book of the Law was 
found in the temple as related in II Kings 22 : 8. The 
book, including the song, testified before Josiah when 
read to him or by him. It afterwards testified before 
all the people when the "covenant" (which was the 
book of the Law that was found) was proclamed by 
Jeremiah, as is related in the 11th chapter of Jeremiah. 
The song, as a part of the book of the Law, or cove- 
nant, thus testified before, or in the presence of the 
children of Israel, in fulfillment of Deut. 31:21. At 
the same time, the book of the Law, or covenant, 
including the song, testified as a witness against them 
in fulfillment of Deut. 31:26. In other words, the 
proclamation of the covenant by the prophet Jeremiah, 
as related in the 11th chapter of Jeremiah, accom- 
plished the fulfillment of Deut. 31 : 21 and 26. 

In Deut. 31 : 1!), it is said : "That this song may be 
a witness for me against the children of Israel." 
Leeser's translation reads: "In order that this song 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 81 

may become for me a witness against the children 
of Israel." 

Young's translation reads : 'That this song is to 
me for a witness against the sons of Israel." The 
language employed by Leeser, "That this song may 
become for me a witness," seems to convey the idea 
that the song was not a witness for the Lord at the 
time when written, but that at some time in the future, 
it would become a witness for the Lord. 

The words employed by Young's translation, 
"That this song is to me for a witness," seems to convey 
the thought that the song was not only to be a witness 
for the Lord, but also a witness to the Lord; or, in 
support of the accusation, or in support of some thing 
the Lord would say or do. 

Such an application of the song as a witness is 
found in the manner before shown ; the song testified 
to, or in support of, the accusation made by the Lord, 
as contained in the opening chapters of the book of 
Jeremiah. Thus, the witness testified to, or in support 
of the Lord's accusation. 

This application of the witness to the accusation, 
therefore, appears to be the fulfillment of Deut. 
31:19, and thus provided the tw r o witnesses required 
by the law. The trial having been instituted, the 
accusation made, and the testimony given, in the man- 
ner indicated, we read in Jer. 11 : 9 and 10, that they 
were declared guilty of conspiracy, and that they had 
broken the covenant. Such, in brief, is the outline of 
the trial which we will now endeavor to show more 
fully. Coming now to the institution of this trial in 
the 1st chapter of the book of Jeremiah, we notice as 
follows : Jeremiah was "set" or, as Leeser reads, 
"appointed," over the nations in the 13th year of the 
reign of Josiah, and forty years prior to the fall of the 



82 The Broken Covenant and the Booh of the Laze. 

kingdom and the beginning of the desolation of the 
land. In verse 11, the Lord addresses Jeremiah as 
follows: "Moreover the word of the Lord came unto 
me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, 
I see a rod of an almond tree." "The almond tree was 
called the wakeful tree, because it awakes from the 
sleep of winter earlier than the other trees, flowering 
in January, and bearing fruit in March ; a symbol of 
the early execution of the Lord's purposes." The 
covenant was broken, and the Lord was wakeful as 
to that fact, and also as to all other facts connected, 
as we will see in the next verse. Verse 12 : "Then 
said the Lord unto me, Thou hast well seen ; for I 
will hasten my word to perform it." 

Leeser's translation here reads: "I am watching 
over my word to perform it." Young's translation 
reads: "For I am watching over my word to do it." 
The revised version reads: "I watch over my word 
to perform- it." Evidently it was the due time for the 
beginning of some great and important work, the fulfill- 
ment of some portion of the Lord's word. 

The Lord had said, nine hundred and twenty-nine 
years prior to this time, that he would root them out 
of their land if the covenant was broken, and at the 
same time he said that they would break it. Here we 
find that Jeremiah is appointed to root them out, and 
therefore the covenant is broken. In Deut. 31 : 10 
to 22, the Lord, foreseeing that they would break the 
covenant, had in view a trial, and prepared a witness 
to testify at that trial. Here the Lord was watching 
over his word relating to that trial. The time for the 
beginning of the trial had now arrived, and the Lord 
was watching over his word to institute the trial. He 
was watching over his word to visit upon them all tiie 
punishments of the 26th chapter of Leviticus, because 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazv. 83 

they were to follow as a result of the broken covenant, 
and the covenant is now broken. The forty years 
intervening between the appointment of Jeremiah and 
the fall of the kingdom, as we will endeavor to show 
later, was the forty years referred to in Ezekiel 4 : 6. 

All the punishments mentioned in the 26th chapter 
of Leviticus, except the "Seven times," or "Times of the 
Gentiles," would follow during these forty years. The 
"seven times" of the Gentile dominion would begin at 
the close of these forty years, at which time the king- 
dom of Israel ceased, and the Lord said : "I will 
overturn, overturn, overturn it ; and it shall be no more, 
until he comes whose right it is; and I will give it to 
him." 

As the "Times of the Gentiles" had their begin- 
ning at the end of these forty years, the Lord was here, 
when he appointed Jeremiah, "watching over his word" 
to fulfill all the prophecies reaching from the appoint- 
ment of Jeremiah down to the present and on to the 
restoration of Israel. He was watching over his word 
to perform an unbroken chain of prophecy reaching 
from the appointment of Jeremiah down to the present, 
and on to the end of the times of the Gentiles. 

The immediate portion of the Lord's word which 
he was here watching over to perform, the part that 
immediately affected the kingdom of Israel, is referred 
to in Jer. 1:16: "And I will utter my judgments 
against them touching all their wickedness who have 
forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other 
gods, and worshipped the works of their own hands." 

Leeser's translation here reads : "And I will call 
them to account touching all their wickedness, in that 
they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto 
other gods, and have bowed down unto the works of 
their own hands." The Pulpit Commentary, in its 



84 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

comments on this verse 16, remarks as follows: "I 
will utter my judgments; or, I will hold a court of 
justice upon them; literally, I will speak judgments 
with them. The expression is peculiar to Jeremiah 
and includes both the examination of the accused and 
the judicial sentence." 

Matthew Henry says : "I will pass sentence upon 
them, or give judgment against them; so it may be 
read." Here then, according to Leeser's translation, 
they were "called to account" touching all their 
wickedness, which means a trial. Here, according to 
the Pulpit Commentary, a court of justice was held 
upon them, including both the examination of the 
accused and the judicial sentence. Now, let us notice 
that the reasons here set forth in verse 16, for which 
reasons they are here arraigned for trial, are preciselv 
the same reasons that are set forth in Deut. 2'9 : 25, 
and in Deut. 31 : 16 to 27, where, as we have endeav- 
ored to show, a trial was implied. For the same reasons 
that are here in Deut. spoken of, because they would 
go after the gods of the strangers of the land whither 
they would go to be among them, and forsake the Lord 
and break the covenant, and, for the same reason that 
the Lord commanded Moses to write the song that 
it might be a witness for him against Israel ; the Lord, 
here in Jer. 1 : 16, calls them to account, and holds a 
court of justice upon them; and the reason in each 
place is on account of their idolatry leading to the 
breaking of the covenant. We think that the fore- 
going arguments clearly demonstrate that a trial was 
here instituted against Israel, or that they were here 
arraigned for trial on the charge of breaking the cove- 
nant. 

But, some may say, while 1 the evidence seems clear 
that Israel was here arraigned for trial, that they were 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazv. 85 

"called to account," and that "a court of justice was 
held upon them, including both the examination of the 
accused and the judicial sentence," we are unable to 
see in the book of Jeremiah sufficient evidence to 
warrant us in believing that such a trial was actually 
held, or that the book of Jeremiah really contains the 
record of such a trial. Therefore, it may be asked, 
what other evidence, if any, have we to show that such 
a trial was really instituted at this time, and that the 
trial progressed and terminated in the removal of Israel 
from the land and in the desolation of the land? 

In answer to the above question, we will refer to 
the following scriptures, showing that such a trial was 
held at this time. First, see Daniel 9 : 12 (Leeser's 
translation). Here we are informed by the prophet 
Daniel that the Lord "hath accomplished his words 
which he had spoken concerning us, by bringing upon 
us a great evil, which was never done under the whole 
heaven as it hath been done in Jerusalem." We note 
in this scripture, first, that the Lord had "accomplished 
his words." Secondly, that the "words" were "accom- 
plished" by bringing upon them a "great evil." 
Third, that the "great evil" brought upon them was 
the captivity and the desolation of the city and the 
land, as shown, not only by verse 12, but by verses 
2, 17 and 18. 

Therefore, the "words," which Daniel here says 
had been accomplished, referred to the desolation of 
the land, and included all the events connected with 
the desolation. The Lord, having accomplished his 
words concerning the desolation, as Daniel informs 
us, it follows that he accomplished all of his words 
concerning that event ; and the trial having been insti- 
tuted at the time when Jeremiah was appointed, and 
as the trial was to result in the desolation of the land, 



86 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

it therefore follows that the trial was also "accom- 
plished." In verse 7 we read: "O Lord, righteous- 
ness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of 
faces, as at this day ; to the men of Judah, and to the 
inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that 
are near, and that are far off, through all the countries 
whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass 
that they have trespassed against thee." 

Here we are informed that Israel had been driven 
out of their land because of their trespass that they 
have trespassed against thee. 

We thus note that the trespass, which had resulted 
in them being driven out of their land, must have been 
the breaking of the covenant, because the Lord had said 
to Moses that the breaking of the covenant would 
result in them being driven out, or rooted out, of their 
land. Therefore, the reference here in Daniel's 
prayer was to the trespass that had resulted in the 
breaking of the covenant. Having seen that the break- 
ing of the covenant was to be followed by a trial, and 
that the trial was to result in their removal from the 
land, it follows that the trial must have preceded their 
removal from the land, as cause must precede effect. 

We have seen in Jer. 1 : 12 that the Lord was 
"watching over his word to perform it" ; and that 
the "word" which the Lord was then watching over 
to perforin, referred to punishments that were to follow 
the breaking of the covenant ; in other words the root- 
ing out process and the trial as mentioned in Deut. 
29 : 28, and implied in Deut. 31 : 1G to 27. We have 
also seen that the beginning of the process of rooting 
them out of the land, and also the beginning of the 
trial, is marked by the appointment of Jeremiah. 

Again, we have seen in Daniel 0: 14 that at some 
time in the then past, the Lord had "watched upon" 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 87 

(the revised version and Leeser's translation say 
"watched over") the evil and brought it upon us. 
Here, as before noted, Jeremiah and Daniel both refer 
to the same event, to the bringing upon Israel the evil 
that was to follow as a result of the broken covenant. 
Jeremiah speaks of the event at the time when the 
bringing of the "evil" upon them had its beginning, 
and Daniel refers to it after the "evil" had been brought 
upon them. The "evil" which Daniel says the Lord 
had watched over and brought upon them, was the 
evil results to follow the breaking of the covenant, 
as spoken of in Deut. 29: 28, and Deut. 31: 16 to 27, 
and were the same evil results that are marked by the 
appointment of the prophet Jeremiah ; in other words, 
the institution of the rooting out process and the trial. 
In order to show that the reference here by Daniel 
is as stated, we will again refer to the 9th chapter of 
Daniel. 

Here we are informed that Daniel prayed unto the 
Lord in regard to the desolation. He had, as expressed 
in verse 2, "understood by books the number of the 
years, whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah 
the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years 
in the desolations of Jerusalem." Therefore, as 
expressed in verse 3 : "And I set my face unto the 
Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with 
fastings, and sackclotn, and ashes," Daniel, evidently, 
saw that the seventy years of the desolation were about- 
ended, and earnestly prayed unto the Lord that his 
favor might again rest on the city of Jerusalem, the 
land, and the people of Israel. In verse 12 (Leeser's 
translation) he says: "And he hath accomplished his 
words, which he had spoken concerning us, and 
concerning our judges that judged us, by bringing 



88 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

upon us a great evil } which was never done under the 
whole heaven as it hath been done in Jerusalem." 

The "great evil," which Daniel says had been 
brought upon them, was an evil that was written in the 
law of Moses. See verses 11 and 13. In verse 14 
we read: "Therefore hath the Lord watched upon 
(over) the evil (the evil that was written in the law 
of Moses) and brought it upon us." 

What was the "evil" that had been brought upon 
them, the evil that is written in the law of Moses? 
We reply, it was the evil that is described in verse 11, 
as follows : "Therefore the curse is poured upon 
us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses 
the servant of God." 

Here we are informed that the "great evil," which 
was the cause that had led to the desolation of the 
land, was the "curse" that was poured upon them, 
and the "oath" that is written in the law of Moses. 
We next enquire, what was the curse and the oath 
that is written in the law of Moses, and in what part 
of the law of Moses is this curse and oath to be found? 

We reply, the reference is to the covenant begin- 
ning at Deut. 29 : 1, and the part of that covenant that 
contains the curse and oath spoken of by Daniel is 
chapter 29 and verses 12, 14, 19, 20 and 27. Tne 
authorized version, in the last named verses 20 and 27, 
reads "curses," but the revised version reads "curse," 
referring to a special curse, which curse was the 
desolation of the land as spoken of in verses 22, 23 
and 24. Thus, Jeremiah, in the statement that the 
Lord was "watching over his word to perform it," 
and Daniel, in his statement that the Lord had "watch- 
ed over the evil and brought it upon us," both point 
backward to the covenant having its beginning at Deut. 
29 : 1, and thus show that each prophet referred to 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 89 

one and the same event : the cause that led to the deso- 
lation of the land ; which cause was the breaking of 
the covenant. Daniel, it would appear, may have 
known that the covenant was broken. The Lord had 
said, in Deut. 31 : 17 and 18, that he would hide his 
face from them in the day when the covenant was 
broken, and here in Daniel 9:17, Daniel says : "Cause 
thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate." 
This would seem to show that Daniel knew that the 
Lord's face had been hidden from them. 

The fact of Daniel praying for a return of the 
Lord's favor to the land and the people would indicate 
that he knew that the covenant was broken, because 
the favor of the Lord would not have been withdrawn 
from them unless the covenant was broken. In 
Jeremiah 11 : 10, and 31 : 32, it had been written that 
the covenant was broken, and as Daniel was familiar 
with the writings of Jeremiah, he may have learned 
the fact in this way if in no other. Therefore, we may 
suppose that Daniel, here in his prayer, was seeking 
for the reestablishment of covenant relationship be- 
tween the Lord and Israel, the relationship that had 
existed before the covenant was broken, and before 
the Lord had hid his face from them. 

Whether Daniel was actually praying for the re- 
establishment of covenant relations between Israel and 
the Lord, or not, we would not presume to say; but 
It would appear that, if the full request of his prayer 
was granted, it would involve the idea of the return 
of Israel to the relationship that had existed between 
them and the Lord before the covenant was broken. 
Assuming it as true that a request for the return of 
covenant favor to Israel is implied in Daniel's prayer, 
as seems to be a reasonable conclusion, then we may 
see, more clearly, the connection between his prayer 



90 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

and the answer to the same. This answer is found in 
verse 2-i, as follows: "Seventy weeks are determined 
upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the 
transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make 
reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting 
righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, 
and to anoint the most holy." 

We notice here the words, "thy people," and also 
"thy holy city." The words are not addressed to my 
people, or to my holy city. This thought has led some 
to the conclusion that, at some time before this, the 
Lord had cast of! Israel and was not yet ready to 
receive them anew into covenant favor, or recognize 
them again as his people. This thought is in full 
accord with the ideas herein set forth, because Israel 
had been cast off on account of the broken covenant. 
We notice that the Lord does not at once grant the 
request that seems to be implied in Daniel's prayer, 
for a return of covenant relationship as it had formerly 
existed. The old covenant having been broken, it 
is necessary to establish a new covenant before there 
can be any restoration to covenant favor ; and, there- 
fore, "seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, 
and upon thy holy city" before the new covenant can 
be established, or before Israel can be restored to cove- 
nant relation. 

It appears to be quite generally understood that 
the above answer to Daniel's prayer, in verse 24, refers 
to the atonement made by our Lord. 

The Pulpit Commentary, however, says: "It is 
now received by critical commentators that to oir 
Lord this prophecy cannot refer." We hope to be 
able to show, if we have not already done so, that the 
prophecy does refer to our Lord. Our Lord was to 
finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 91 

reconcilation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting 
righteousness, to seal up the vision and prophecy, and 
to anoint the most holy. Or, rather, the work above 
mentioned was to be accomplished by the atonement 
of our Lord. All of this work, as we understand it, 
was accomplished in or by our Lord when he exclaimed 
on the cross: "It is finished/' and when the veil of 
the temple was rent in twain. 

But what are we to understand by the words "to 
finish the transgression'? What was the particular 
transgression here referred to as the transgression ? 
Remembering that this scripture was fulfilled by our 
Lord, and that the transgression, whatever it may have 
been, was "finished," cancelled, or, as Leeser says, 
"closed up," and as Young says, "shut up," when our 
Lord expired on the cross, we again enquire, What was 
the particular transgression here referred to as the 
transgression ? 

We reply, it was the transgression referred to in 
verse 7, where Daniel speaks of it as "their trespass 
that they have trespassed against thee." This tres- 
pass, as we have seen, was the breaking of the 
covenant. 

It was the transgression referred to in Daniel's 
prayer, the transgression that had led to the desolation 
of the land and the captivity, and this transgression 
was the transgression of, or the breaking of, the 
covenant. 

It was the transgression, or breaking, of the old 
covenant, which transgression was to be cancelled, 
"closed up" or "shut up," by the establishment of the 
new covenant. Benson here remarks : "In the 
appropriate sense of the words, the transgression de- 
notes one original act of apostasy and rebellion against 
a positive command of God." 



92 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

If the ''transgression denotes one original act of 
apostasy/' and but one, then that act must have been 
the breaking of the covenant. 

Benson further remarks: "The reader will observe 
the expression is not to finish transgressions, but the 
transgression; a word which is derived from a theme 
which signifies to revolt, to rebel, to be contumacious, 
to refuse subjection to rightful authority, or obedience 
to a law which we ought to observe. To finish such 
transgression is expressed by a word which denotes 
universality, to cancel, or annihilate." 

By finishing this transgression he understands 
''cancelling the primeval guilt of Adam's apostasy." 
The thought here expressed, we presume, is true. The 
ultimate reference was, probably, as above stated, to 
"cancelling the primeval guilt of Adam's apostasy." 
But was this the immediate reference? If so, it would 
not be an answer to Daniel's prayer. 

This scripture, being an answer to Daniel's prayer, 
must be in harmony with the prayer. Daniel was not 
praying for deliverence from the results of the Adamic 
fall, but he was praying for the restoration of Israel 
to the favor of the Lord, to covenant favor. Therefore, 
verse 24 being an answer to his prayer, there must 
be some connection between the prayer and the answer 
to the same. What was that connection ? As we have 
seen, Daniel, seeing that the end of the seventy years 
was near at hand, was praying for an end of the 
desolation, and for the restoration of Israel to the faver 
of the Lord. This prayer, if granted, would involve 
the immediate return of Israel to covenant favor; and 
seventy weeks must intervene before that covenant 
favor can be granted. The old covenant having been 
broken, a new covenant must be established before 
Israel can be restored to covenant favor, and that new 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 93 

covenant was to be established at the end of the seventy 
weeks. Therefore, "seventy weeks are determined 
upon thy people, and upon thy holy city," before they 
can be restored to covenant favor, or before the new 
covenant can be established. The establishment of 
the new covenant would cancel, "shut up," or "close 
up" the breach caused by the breaking of the old 
covenant. 

Other proofs showing that a trial was here insti- 
tuted, and that it resulted in the desolation, are as 
follows : See Ezekiel 36 : 16 to 20. Here we note in 
verse 19 and the last clause of the verse as follows : 
"According to their way and according to their doings 
I (the Lord) judged them." 

The word "judged," according to the Concordance, 
means "to judge, to act as a magistrate." Here, then, 
the Lord informed Ezekiel that at some time in the 
past, he had judged Israel, or had acted as a magis- 
trate at a trial wherein Israel had been arraigned. The 
question as to when, where, and why they had been 
judged, or tried, and the result of the judgment or 
trial, is related as follows : 

1st. When and where were they judged or tried? 
In answer to this question see verse 17. It was "when 
the house of Israel dwelt in their own land." It 
was, therefore, before the beginning of the desolation 
and while they were yet in their own land. 2nd. How 
long was it before they were removed from their land ? 
We answer, it must have been near to the time of, 
but before their removal from the land and the begin- 
ning of the desolation, because, as related in verse 19, 
the Lord "scattered them among the heathen, and they 
were dispersed through the countries" ; and this refers 
to the removal of them from the land, and to the 
beginning of the desolation. Thus, the desolation 



94 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazi'. 

followed as a result of the judgment, or decision 
of the Lord as a Magistrate ; and, therefore, the trial 
must have immediately preceded the desolation. 3rd. 
Why were they "judged" or tried? Because, as re- 
lated in verse 17, "they defiled it (the land) by 
their own way and by their doings ; their way was 
before me as the uncleanness of a removed woman." 
And, as related in verse 18, "Wherefore I poured my 
fury upon them for the blood that they had shed 
upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they 
had polluted it." Verse 19 : "And I scattered them 
among the heathen, and they were dispersed through 
the countries." 

After thus enumerating the causes leading to the 
trial, and after relating the result of the trial, which 
result was that they were scattered among the heathen, 
etc., or in other words were expelled from their land 
as a result of the trial, we have in the last clause of 
verse 19 the statement that, "according to their way 
and according to their doings / judged them/' or, I 
acted as a Magistrate at the trial of Israel. 

The Pulpit Commentary, referring to the words 
of verse 19, "according to their way and according 
to their doings I judged them," says as follows : "The 
language hints at a correspondence between the punish- 
ment and the crime." This thought is in full accord 
with the ideas we are herein setting forth. The 
"crime" was the breaking of the covenant, and the 
"punishment" was the rooting of them out of their 
land, as is related in Dent. 2'9 would result as a punish- 
ment on account of the broken covenant. 

Here we have the clear statement from the Lord 
that he had judged them on account of their idolatry, 
or that they had been tried, found guilty, and as a 
result thereof had been expelled from their land. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 95 

Thus the evidence showing that a trial was held 
between the appointment of Jeremiah and the begin- 
ning of the desolation of the land, and that the trial 
resulted in the desolation, seems clear and satisfactory, 
and without reference to the book of Jeremiah, or 
whether we are able to trace the record of the trial or 
not. We further note that, the fact of a trial having 
been held here, and the trial having resulted in their 
removal from the land, as above stated, shows that we 
were correct in saying that a trial is implied in Deut. 
31 : 16 to 27 and that they were to be "rooted out" of 
their land as prophecied of in Deut. 29 : 28. 

Another proof showing a trial here is found in 
Ezekiel 21 : 13 : "Because it is a trial, and what if 
the' sword contemn even the rod? it shall be no more, 
saith the Lord God." The Pulpit Commentary, regard- 
ing this scripture, says : "This verse has received as 
many interpretations, and is just as obscure as verse 
10, with which it is obviously connected. I begin as 
before with that which seems most probable. 1st, 
Kiel : For the trial is made, and what if the despising 
sceptre shall not come? 

The "despising sceptre" is the kingdom of Judah, 
and the prophet asks, "What will happen, what 
extreme of misery is to be looked for, if that kingdom 
shall not appear, if Judah shall be left without a ruler?" 

Benson says : "God here foretells that if the sceptre 
of Judah should despise and not profit by the correc- 
tion or punishment brought upon it by the instru- 
mentality of Nebuchadnezzar, it should be entirely 
broken, and be no more; which came to pass accord- 
ingly." 

Whatever else may, or may not, be true concerning 
the "trial" here spoken of, it appears entirely certain 
that the reference is to the events that led to the 



96 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

downfall of the kingdom of Jndah, the captivity and 
the desolation. We have endeavored to show that 
those calamities were preceded by a trial, and there- 
fore conclude that the one here spoken of is identical 
with the one we have in view. 

In our endeavors to trace the progress of this trial 
in the book of Jeremiah let us bear in mind the follow- 
ing thoughts : First, we have seen that a trial was 
implied in Deut. 31 : 16 to 27, which trial was prelimi- 
nary to the process of rooting Israel out of the land; 
and that this trial was to result in the desolation of 
the land and the captivity. Second, we have seen that 
this trial was instituted at the time when Jeremiah 
was appointed. Third, we have seen that the process 
of rooting them out of the land was accomplished 
forty years later at the fall of the kingdom and the 
beginning of the desolation ; and, therefore, as the 
beginning of the desolation was to mark the end of the 
trial, we may certainly know, whether we can trace 
the trial or not, that it was held within the limits of 
these forty years intervening between the appointment 
of Jeremiah and the beginning of the desolation. 

Other evidences, showing that a trial was held at 
this time, are as follows : The book of the Law, 
containing the written copy of the song, was found five 
years after the institution of the trial, and at the proper 
time for its testimony to be given. In Deut. 31 : 16 to 
27, we have seen that the book and the song were to 
testify after the covenant was broken 

Here we find that they were proclaimed as wit- 
nesses by Jeremiah, five years after the covenant was 
broken, and after Israel was arraigned for trial, and 
after the accusation, as contained in the opening 
chapters of the book of Jeremiah, had been made. 
Therefore, the presence of the book of the Law at this 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 97 

time is evidence showing both that a trial was here 
held and that the book and the song were designed 
to testify as witnesses at this trial. If the book had 
been found at any other time, or proclaimed at any 
other time, then the thought of it being a witness at 
a trial would be out of harmony with all we have 
before mentioned, and it could have no connection 
whatever with the trial instituted at the time Jeremiah 
was appointed. 

Again, 'the proclamation of the covenant by 
Jeremiah is another evidence showing that a trial was 
in progress. What other possible reason could there 
have been for its proclamation except as a witness? 
We are informed by some writers that Jeremiah was 
sent out on a missionary tour, to proclaim the covenant 
among the people in order to reclaim them from 
idolatry and to recall them to a sense of their covenant 
obligations. That this was not the primary object in 
view in the proclamation of the covenant appears 
certain for the following reason : As we have seen in 
Deut. 31 : 16 to 27, the Lord foresaw that they would 
break the covenant, and he informed Closes that, in 
the day w r hen the covenant was broken, he would for- 
sake them and hide his face from them Now, right 
here, in connection with the proclamation of the cove- 
nant, we have, in Jer. 11 : 10, the statement from the 
Lord that they had broken the covenant, and in Jer. 
12 : 7, we are informed by the Lord that : "I have 
forsaken my house, I have left mine heritage ; I have 
given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of 
her enemies." 

In view of these facts w r e submit that, the procla- 
mation of the covenant of Jeremiah could not have 
been, primarily, for the purpose of recalling Israel to 
a sense of their covenant obligations. If the covenant 



98 The Broken Covenant and the Booh of the Law. 

was proclaimed for the purpose of recalling Israel to 
a more faithful observance of their covenant obliga- 
tions, then it must follow that the Lord was ready to 
receive them anew into covenant relation ; and this he 
could not do after the covenant was broken, and after 
he had forsaken them and hid his face from them. 
Therefore, the primary reason for the proclamation of 
the covenant must have been as a witness ; and, if a 
witness, that fact implies a trial in connection with the 
witness. 

Again, the statement in Jeremiah 11 : 10, that ''the 
house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken 
my covenant," is another evidence showing that a trial 
was here held, for the following reason : In Deut. 31 : 

16 to 27, we have seen that Israel would, at some time 
in the future, break the covenant ; and for that reason 
the song, as a witness, was prepared to testify at the 
trial. We have further seen that this trial was instituted 
against them at the time when Jeremiah was appointed. 
It follows therefore that, when five years after the 
institution of the trial the Lord said they had broken 
the covenant, the statement must have been in connec- 
tion with the trial. Again, we have seen in Deut. 31 : 

17 and 18, that the Lord would forsake them and hide 
his face from them as one of the results of this trial. 
Here, in Jer. 12 : 7, we are informed by the Lord that 
he had forsaken them, and, as we will endeavor to 
show, further along, the Lord hid his face from them 
at this same time. Therefore, it must follow that the 
trial preceded the time when the Lord forsook them and 
hid his face from them. 

Another evidence showing that a trial was held 
here is as follows. See Jer. 1 1 : 9 and 10: "And the 
Lord said unto me, a conspirac) is found among the 
men of Judah, and among the inhabitants of Jerusa- 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 99 

lem." In the next verse we are informed of the result 
of the conspiracy : "The house of Israel and the house' 
of Judah have broken my covenant which I made with 
their fathers." The statement here made is that the 
Lord has found 2l conspiracy. This would seem to be 
a remarkable statement, coming, as it does, from the 
Lord. Let us note that the Lord is here speaking 
through the prophet Jeremiah, and he says that a 
conspiracy is found; found by the Lord. How was 
this conspiracy, resulting in the breaking of the cove- 
nant, found by the Lord? Certainly, the Lord knew 
of the conspiracy before it was found, and without 
having found it. If he had said to Jeremiah a conspir- 
acy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem, that statement would appear entirely 
reasonable, because he knew all about the conspiracy 
before it was found. 

The words, "a conspiracy is found," clearly imply 
the idea of search, investigation, process, legal or other- 
wise, whereby the conspiracy is found. The words, 
if uttered by man, would be at once understood as 
referring to a trial whereby some one had been found 
guilty. 

As a trial was instituted five years before this time, 
on account of the broken covenant, and, as we are 
here informed that a conspiracy is found, coupled 
with the statement that the covenant is broken, we con- 
clude that the conspiracy was judicially found. It 
was necessary that the conspiracy be thus found in 
order to comply with the law ; and, notwithstanding 
the fact that the Lord knew of the conspiracy before 
it was found. The conspiracy having been judicially 
found, it follows that the trial must have preceded it. 

As additional evidence, showing that a trial was 
here in progress, see Jer. 2, verse 9. Here the Lord 

LofC. 



100 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

says: "I will yet plead with you." The Expositor's 
Bible here says : The word "plead" means to reason 
or argue forensically, and this would seem to refer 
to a court of justice. 

See also verse 35 : "Behold I will plead with thee, 
because thou sayest, I have not sinned." Leeser 
renders this passage: "Behold I will hold judgment 
with thee, because thou sayest I have not sinned." 
That the word "plead" refers to a trial may be seen 
by comparing Jer. 25:31, where the reference is clearly 
to a trial : "For the Lord hath a controversy with the 
nations, he will plead with all flesh." 

See also Micah 6:2: "For the Lord hath a con- 
troversy with his people, and he will plead with Israel." 
See Jer. 4:12: "Now also will I give sentence against 
them." The Pulpit Commentary here reads: "As 
they have sinned against me, so will I also now hold a 
court of justice upon them." 

Another evidence is as follows : We have seen that 
the song of Deut. 32 was both a witness and a prophecy 
and have shown that its fulfillment, as a prophecy, 
is to be found in the days of Jeremiah and in the book 
of Jeremiah. 

Therefore, as its evidence as a witness must be 
coincident with its fulfillment as a prophecy, it follows 
that its evidence as a witness must have been given in 
the days of Jeremiah ; and this, in turn, implies a trial 
in the days of Jeremiah. 

Lastly, there are a number of scriptures showing 
that some remarkable work was here inaugurated by 
the Lord. Also, that the work was a progressive work, 
requiring a period of time for its accomplishment. 
This thought fits in well with the idea that a trial was 
here under way. In fact, it would seem that the 
presence of a trial here is the only explanation of the 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 101 

following scriptures : See Jer. 19 : 3 and 4. Jer. 25 : 
29. Hab. 1:5 and 6. II Kings 21 : 12 and II Kings 
22:16. 

We submit that the foregoing evidences, showing 
that a trial of Israel, on account of the breaking of the 
covenant, was here held, is fully sufficient even though 
our endeavors to trace the trial may not be thought 
fully satisfactory. We will endeavor to show the 
progress and end of the trial further on, but will first 
consider the book of the Law and the "Iniquity of the 
end." 



102 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laiv. 



CHAPTER IV 



THE BOOK OF THE LAW. 

"And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan 
the scribe, I have found the book of the Law in the 
house of the Lord." (II Kings 22 : 8.) 

Stanley, in his work entitled History of the Jewish 
Church, in speaking of the book of the Law that was 
found in the temple in the days of King Josiah, and 
Shaphan the scribe, Hilkiah the high priest, Huldah 
the prophetess, and the prophet Jeremiah, remarks as 
follows: "It was by the joint action of this group that 
a discovery was made which, if we could but unravel 
its whole mystery, would throw more light on the 
history of Sacred literature than any other event under 
the monarchy, and which, even in the obscure form 
in which we now discern it, precipitated the great re- 
action of Josiah, and colored the whole teaching of 
his age." 

Whether the following pages will "unravel" the 
mystery, or any portion of it, may be determined later. 
The question as to whether this book of the Law thai 
was found in the temple was the book of Deuteronomy, 
the second law, or whether it embraced the entire 
Pentateuch or less, seems difficult to determine. It 
appears to be quite generally believed that it at least 
included the book of Deuteronomy. As to the sup- 
posed contents of the book that was found, we quote 
from the Pulpit Commentary as follows: "There 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 103 

has been great difference of opinion as to what it was 
which Hi'lkiah had found. Ewald believes it to have 
been the book of Deuteronomy, which had, he thinks, 
been composed some thirty or forty years before in 
Egypt by a Jewish exile, and had found its way, by 
a sort of chance, into Palestine, where some priest 
had placed a copy of it in the temple. Thenius sug- 
gests, a. collection, of the laws and ordinances of 
Moses, which was afterwards worked up into the 
Pentateuch. Bertheau, the three middle books of the 
Pentateuch, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers. Gram- 
berg, Exodus by itself. But there seem to be no 
sufficient grounds for questioning the ancient opinion 
— that of Josephus, and the Jews generally — that it 
was a copy of the entire Pentateuch." 

Benson says : "It is much disputed whether it was 
the whole Pentateuch emphatically called the law, or 
only Deuteronomy, or even barely the 28th, 29th, 
30th and 31st chapters of that book. Josephus, by 
calling it the sacred book of Moses, seems to declare 
entirely for the former, as do the far greater number 
of Jews and Christians. If it be asked how Shaphan, 
reading to the king, could run over those five books 
so quickly as to come presently to the blessings and 
curses, it may be answered, that as their manner was 
to write upon volumes of a considerable length, 
which were rolled up around one or two sticks, it 
might so happen that these last chapters proved to 
be on the outside, and that the king, impatient to 
know the contents of it, might desire to have them 
read before he had unfolded a round or two." The 
record in II Kings 22 and in II Chron. 34 seems 
to indicate that the entire contents of the book that 
was found were read before the king. Whether this 
be true or not, we are very clearly informed in 



Iu4 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

II Kings 23:2 that "the king read in the ears of all 
the people, all the words of the book." 

Can we suppose that the king read the entire Pen- 
tateuch? It may be possible, but it would not seem 
very probable. Can we suppose that he read even 
all the book of Deuteronomy? To read the same, as 
one would ordinarily read, would probably require 
some three or four hours at the very least. The 
writer would not presume to settle that question 

The suggestion is here made that the book of the 
Law, which was found in the temple, may have in- 
cluded only that part of the book of Deuteronomy 
designated as the covenant, beginning at Deut. 29 : 1, 
and including the remainder of the book, or so much 
of the remainder of the book as was written by Moses. 

In addition to the reasons already given for so 
believing, we will add the following. In Deut. 29 : 1, 
we read : "These are the words of the covenant which 
the Lord commanded Moses to make with the child- 
ren of Israel in the land of Moa'b, beside the covenant 
which he made with them in Horeb." This cove- 
nant was "beside," or, as Young's translation reads 
"apart" from the covenant at Horeb. In the Hebrew 
text the above verse is placed as the last verse of 
chapter 28, but taking it as it is found in the 
authorized version, it appears to refer to what follows 
and not to what precedes. It is claimed that the cove- 
nant here referred to was not a new covenant, but 
only a renewal of the covenant made at Horeb. That 
it was a renewal is no doubt true; but the fact of it 
being a renewal does not necessarily mean that it 
was not a covenant. 

The International Commentary here remarks as 
follows : "The covenant into which Israel has now 
entered in Moab, while in part identical with that 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 105 

(the covenant made at Horeb), is largely an extension 
of it, embracing many entirely new regulations ; the 
two covenants are accordingly distinguished." 

Thus, it will appear, the covenant here referred 
to was, in some sense at least, a new covenant. May 
it not be that this covenant was the book of the 
Law that Moses commanded to be laid up in the side 
of the ark of the covenant, as a witness against them? 
This book, when found, was referred to as the book 
of the Law, and also as a book of the Law ; but when 
Jeremiah proclaimed the same (see Jer. 11), he 
referred to it as "this covenant." This thought might 
seem to indicate that Jeremiah referred to the cove- 
nant here spoken of in Deut. 29 : 1. 

In II Chron. 34 : 15, it reads "the book of the 
Law." Here Leeser reads "the book of the Law," 
but Young's translation here reads "a book of the 
Law." In II Kings 22 : 8, we read : "I have found 
the book of the Law." Here both Leeser and Young 
read "a book of the Law." The book of the Law 
would appear to refer to the entire Pentateuch, but a 
book of the Law might refer to some certain part of the 
Pentateuch, and therefore it might be that the cove- 
nant spoken of in Deut. 29 : 1 was the book that was 
found and referred to as a book of the Law. 

The thought that the reference was to the cove- 
nant of Deut. 29:1 is further shown as follows : In 
Deut. 29 : 22, 23 and 24, we are informed of the deso- 
lation of the land to result from the breaking of the 
covenant. Coming now to II Kings 22 : 19, we are 
informed by the prophetess Huldah, in reply to the 
messengers from King Josiah : "That they should 
become a desolation and a curse, etc." Thus, in Deut. 
29 we are informed of the desolation, and also the 
curse, and the prophetess Huldah informs us that the 



106 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the J 

book that was found was, in part at least, in regard 
to the desolation of the land and the curse. This 
shows that the book must have contained this part 
of Deuteronomy at least, because the desolation of 
tiie land is not elsewhere referred to in Deuteronomy. 

We will now consider the question as to the con- 
tents of this book, from another point of view. It 
seems to be generally admitted that the book that 
was found was identical with the covenant that was 
proclaimed by the prophet Jeremiah, as referred to 
in Jeremiah 11. Therefore, if we can ascertain the 
contents of the covenant that was proclaimed by 
Jeremiah, we will have learned the contents of the 
book that was found. 

This we will now endeavor to do. The book was 
found in the temple in the eighteenth year of the 
reign of Josiah, and, presumably, was proclaimed 
before the people at about the same time. It appears 
to be generally believed that the covenant was pro- 
claimed by Jeremiah as a reminder to Israel of their 
covenant obligations to the Lord, and as a warning 
against idolatry. But, we reply, the covenant was 
now broken, and it was now too late for the procla- 
mation of the covenant to be of any avail to them so 
far as the threatened punishments were concerned. 
In fact, right here in connection with the proclama- 
tion of the covenant, we have in verse 10 the state- 
ment that: "The house of Israel and the house of 
Judah have broken my covenant which I made with 
their fathers." 

Now if, as some authorities tell us, the covenant 
was proclaimed by Jeremiah in order to induce Israel 
to observe more faithfully their covenant obligations 
and that Jeremiah made a sort of missionary tour for 
that purpose, why was it that he said, in connection 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 107 

with his proclamation, that the house of Judah and 
the house of Israel have broken the covenant ? 

The Lord had said, in Deut. 31: "That in the day 
when the covenant was broken he would forsake 
them and hide his face from them." Here the cove- 
nant is broken, and, as will be shown, the Lord for- 
sook them and hid his face from them at this same 
time. Therefore, can we reasonably suppose that the 
covenant was proclaimed to recall them to a more faith- 
ful observance of their covenant obligations when, at 
the same time, the covenant was broken? Or, would 
the Lord call upon them to renew their covenant 
obligations after he had forsaken them and hid his 
face from them? True; he did afterwards call upon 
them to repent, and promised forgiveness if they 
would return to him ; but he also knew, at the same 
time, that they would not do so. 

But, some may say, the covenant had just been 
renewed, as we are informed in II Kings 23 : 1 to 3, 
and therefore it would be unreasonable to say that the 
Lord would forsake them and hide his face from 
them at this time. True, it had been renewed by the 
king and the people, but have we any reason to sup- 
pose that it had been renewed by the Lord? There 
appears to be nothing to indicate that it was. 

Again, in II Kings 22 : 16 and 17, the prophetess 
Huldah had informed them as follows: "Thus saith 
the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, 
and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words 
of the book which the king of Judah hath read; 
because they have forsaken me, and have burned 
incense unto other gods, that they might provoke 
me to anger with all the works of their hands ; there- 
fore my wrath shall be kindled against this place, and 
shall not be quenched." Here we are expressly in- 



10S The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

formed that the Lord will bring evil upon this place, 
even all the words of the book. The book contained 
evil that was to be brought upon them on account of 
the broken covenant. 

Certainly the Lord would not restore them to 
covenant favor and, at the same time, bring all the 
evil spoken of upon them. Therefore the proclama- 
tion of the covenant must have been for some other 
purpose ; and we must conclude that it was proclaimed 
as a witness against Israel. In the 11th chapter ot 
Jeremiah and verse 8, we read as follows: ''There- 
fore I will bring upon them all the words of this cove- 
nant. " The revised version reads : "Therefore I 
brought upon them all the words of this covenant." 
Leeser here reads : "Therefore did I bring over them 
all the words of this covenant." We here notice that 
the authorized version refers to bringing upon them 
"all the words of this covenant" as an event to take 
place in the future, while the revised version and 
Leeser both refer to that same event as having occurred 
in the past. 

The authorized version says "I will bring." The 
revised version says "I brought." Leeser reads 
"Therefore did I bring." Taking it for granted that 
the revised version and Leeser here give the correct 
rendering, and that the event here referred to was in 
the past at the time when Jeremiah proclaimed "all 
the words of this covenant," we enquire, what cove- 
nant was the covenant here spoken of as "this cove- 
nant"? 

We answer, the words "this covenant'" would seem 
to refer to a covenant that wns not familiar either to 
Jeremiah or the people of Israel. If Jeremiah had 
said, hear ye the words of the covenant, it would seem 
probable that the people would have understood the 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 109 

reference to have been to the covenant made at 
Horeb, with which covenant they were probably 
familiar. As the covenant here proclaimed by 
Jeremiah was the book of the Law that had been 
found in the temple, as seems to be generally con- 
ceded, and as the finding of the book of the Law 
had occasioned such great surprise and consterna- 
tion in the mind of Josiah, it is to be presumed that 
it was a book of the Law, or covenant, that they 
were not acquainted with. 

Therefore, it may be supposed that when Jeremiah 
said: "hear ye the words of this covenant," he 
referred to a covenant that had hitherto been unknown 
to Israel, or at least it had been long since forgotten, 
if ever known to them. Such a covenant was the 
book of the Law spoken of in Deut. 31 : 26, a cove- 
nant laid up to be a witness against them. 

The covenant that had been "brought upon them" 
must have been the covenant of Deut. 29 : 1, because 
that covenant contained the prophecy in regard to 
Israel being rooted out of their land, and, as we have 
seen, the rooting out process began five years before 
the book was found and proclaimed by Jeremiah. 
Again, the covenant of Deut. 29 : 1 contained an 
account of the witness that was appointed, implying 
that a trial was to be instituted against them at some 
time then future; and we have found that this trial 
was instituted against them five years before the book 
was found and proclaimed. Again, the covenant of 
Deut. 29 : 1 contained the song that was to be a wit- 
ness against them at the trial ; and the song, as a 
witness, testified in support of the accusation as con- 
tained in the opening chapters of the book of 
Jeremiah. 

Again, we note in verse 8, as above quoted, that 



110 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

the Lord had, at some time in the past, "brought 
upon them all the words of this covenant.'" When did 
the Lord bring upon them all the words of this cove- 
nant? We reply as follows: At first glance it might 
seem that the reference here was to the time when 
the book was found, and when it was read before 
Josiah and occasioned such great surprise and terror 
in his mind ; to the time when, as expressed in II Kings 
22: 19, Josiah rent his clothes and wept before 
the Lord because of the contents of the book. But, 
on second thought, this explanation will not answer. 
The mere finding of the book and the reading of it, 
with all the penitence manifested by Josiah, would 
not be a sufficient explanation. 

The Lord had ''brought upon them all the words 
of this covenant/' because of the sins that they had 
committed in the past, and they were to be punished 
on account of those sins. The mere finding of the 
book, and the reading of it, would not, of itself, be any 
punishment. See verses 7 and 8: "For I earnestly 
protested unto your fathers in the day that I brought 
them up out of the land of Egypt, even unto this day, 
rising early and protesting, saying, Obey my voice. 
Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear, but 
walked every one in the imagination of their heart ; 
therefore, I brought upon them all the words of this 
covenant." 

Here we have the reason why "all the' words of 
this covenant'' had been brought upon them. The 
"words" of the covenant referred to punishments to 
be inflicted upon them on account of their sins ; and 
therefore, the reference, as to time, could not have 
been to the time when the book was found, because, 
as before said, the mere finding of the book and the 
reading of the same was not, of itself, a punishment. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. Ill 

When, then, were "all the words of this cove- 
nant" brought upon them, if not at the time when 
the book was found? We answer, it was at the time 
when Jeremiah was appointed, which time was five 
years before the book was found, when the covenant 
was broken, and when the process of rooting out had 
its beginning, and at the time when the trial had its 
beginning. These events, then inaugurated, which 
were to finally result in the desolation of the land and 
the capitivity, were on account of the sins referred 
to in Jer. 11 : 7 and 8, and therefore the Lord, refer- 
ring to the time when Jeremiah had been appointed, 
said : "Therefore I brought upon them all the words 
of this covenant." We have seen that the threaten- 
mgs of the covenant of Deut. 29 : 1, which threaten- 
ings were to result in the process of rooting them out 
of the land, and the trial on account of the broken 
covenant, all of which was to lead to the desolation 
and capitivity, were inaugurated at the time of the 
appointment of Jeremiah ; and therefore when the 
Lord, five years later, said: "I brought upon them 
all the words of this covenant," it must be that the 
reference, as to time and events, was to the time 
when Jeremiah was appointed. In other words, it 
was the covenant of Deut. 29:1 that was brought 
upon them at the time when Jeremiah was appointed, 
as has been shown, and therefore when the Lord, five 
years after the appointment of Jeremiah, said : "I 
brought upon them all the words of this covenant," 
he referred to the covenant of Deut. 29 : 1, and to the 
appointment of Jeremiah as the time when it had been 
brought upon them. 

Thus it follows, that the covenant of Deut. 29 : 1 
was the covenant that was brought upon them at the 
time when Jeremiah was appointed ; and, the cove- 



112 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazv. 

nant brought upon them at the time when Jeremiah 
was appointed, was the same covenant that, five years 
later, was proclaimed by Jeremiah, as referred to in 
Jer. 11: and, the covenant proclaimed by Jeremiah 
was, as generally supposed, the book of the Law that 
was found. The covenant spoken of at each time 
and place, therefore, was one and the same covenant ; 
and it follows that the contents of the covenant of 
Deut. 29 : 1 must have been the contents of the book 
of the Law that was found. It may be possible that 
the book that was found contained more than the 
covenant of Deut. 29 : 1, but it must have contained 
that covenant at least. We will now again refer to 
the prophecies of the covenant of Deut. 29 : 1, noting 
their fulfillments at the time when Jeremiah was 
appointed, and thus showing the words of the cove- 
nant that was proclaimed by Jeremiah, and the con- 
tents of the book of the Law that was found in the 
temple. 

1st. In Deut. 29 : 22 to 28, we are informed of 
the desolation of the land which was to follow the 
breaking of the covenant. 

In Jer. 1 : 10 and 16, we have seen that the cove- 
nant was broken, as evidenced by the fact that the 
process of rooting out then began, and also by the 
fact that the trial was then instituted ; and that the 
train of events that was to result in the desolation of 
the land was then set in motion. 

2nd. In Deut. 29 : 28, we read that they were to 
be rooted out of their land if the covenant was 
broken. 

In Jer. 1:10, we are informed that the rooting 
otit process has commenced, and therefore we know 
that the covenant was then broken. 

3rd. In Deut. 31 : 16, we arc informed of an 






The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 113 

offense that Israel would commit in the future ; that 
they would break the covenant. 

In Jer. 1 : 16, we are informed of a trial that was 
instituted agaiapt them on account of that offense, 
and therefore the institution of the trial is evidence 
showing that the covenant is broken. Further, in 
Jer. 11 : 10, the Lord says that the covenant is broken. 

4th. In Deut. 31 : 16, we are informed that Israel 
will forsake the Lord and break the covenant. 

In Jer. 1 : 16, we are informed that they had for- 
saken the Lord, and, as we have seen by the begin- 
ning of the process of rooting out and of the trial, 
the covenant was then broken. 

5th. In Deut. 31 : 19, we are informed of a wit- 
ness that was prepared to testify at the trial, and have 
seen that a trial was implied. 

In Jer. 1 : 16, we have seen that a trial was insti- 
tuted, and, as we will show later, the witness gave its 
testimony. 

6th. In Deut. 31 : 17, the Lord said he would 
forsake them and hide his face from them in the day 
when the covenant was broken. 

In Jer. 12 : 7 (after the covenant was adjudged as 
broken), the Lord said: "I have forsaken mine house, 
I have left mine heritage ; I have given the dearly 
beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies." 

7th. In Deut. 31 : 21, we are informed that this 
witness would testify in their presence. 

In Jer. 11 : it was proclaimed before them, or testi- 
fied in their presence, and previously gave its 
testimony before King Josiah. 

8th. In Deut. 31:26, we are informed that this 
book of the Law, with the song, was laid up in the 
side of the ark to be a witness against them. 



114 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

In Jer. 11: five years after the covenant was 
broken, this covenant or book of the Law was pro- 
claimed against them as a witness, having been found 
in the temple. ( 

9th. In Dent. 31:20 and 21, we are informed 
that this song, as a witness, would testify in their 
presence after the covenant was broken. 

In II Kings 22 : 10, we are informed that the 
song, as a part of the book of the Law, testified before 
King Josiah five years after the covenant was broken, 
and a little later it testified before or in the presence 
of the children of Israel when the covenant was pro- 
claimed as a witness by Jeremiah. 

10th. In Deut. 31 : 19. we read : "That this song 
may be a witness for me (or, to me) against the child- 
ren of Israel." 

In the opening chapters of the book of Jeremiah, 
we have found an accusation, brought against them 
by the Lord, on account of their idolatry ; and a 
comparison of the witness with the accusation shows 
that the song, as a witness, sustains the accusation at 
every point. 

11th. In the 9th chapter of the book of Daniel, 
we are informed that the prophet prayed for an end 
of the desolation of the land, and that he referred to 
the "Curse" and the "Oath" and the desolation of the 
land prophecied of in the covenant beginning at 
Deut. 29:1. Further, while referring to the Oath. 
the Curse and the Desolation in the above named 
scripture he says: "Therefore hath the Lord watched 
upon (oven the evil, and brought it upon us." 

In Jer. 1 : 1?. we read: "For I am watching over 
my word to perform it." We have seen that Jeremiah 
here refers to the same scripture in Deut. that is 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 115 

above referred to by Daniel, and, therefore, the Lord 
was watching over his word to bring upon them the 
covenant, or, "all the words of this covenant" having 
its beginning at the 1st verse of the 29th chapter of 
Deut. and containing the Oath, the Curse, the Desola- 
tion, the Song and all other matters pertaining to the 
punishments to come upon them as a result of breaking 
the covenant. 

Thus, it appears that the covenant that was found 
in the temple and read by King Josiah, and proclaimed 
by Jeremiah as a witness against them, was the cove- 
nant that was broken at the time when Jeremiah was 
appointed; and, the covenant which was broken at 
the time when Jeremiah was appointed, was the 
covenant beginning at Deut. 29, verse 1, and including 
the remainder of the book of Deuteronomy that was 
written by Moses. 

Here, then, we may imagine the way in which this 
matter presented itself to the mind of King Josiah 
when the book was read to him or by him. We may 
suppose he reasoned as follows : 

Here is a book of the Law found in the temple. The 
book informs us that it was laid up in the side of the 
ark of the covenant to be a witness against us on 
account of our idolatry and the breaking of the cove- 
nant. In this book, the Lord, foreseeing our fall into 
idolatry, informs us that we would break the covenant ; 
and, that after the covenant was broken, this book 
would appear against us as a witness to the fact that 
the covenant was broken. Here is the book before us 
as a witness ; and, therefore it must be that the cove - 
nant is now broken. The witness could not testify 
until the covenant is broken, and therefore, the presence 
of the witness before us is evidence showing that the 
covenant is now broken. In other words, the witness 



116 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

would not appear before us to testify unless the 
covenant was broken. If the covenant is now broken, 
then the Lord will surely forsake us and hide his face 
from us, as this book says he will do ; also, it is written 
in this book that our land is to become a desolation 
if the covenant is broken, and therefore, if the covenant 
is broken, our land will surely be desolate, and we will 
be carried away into captivity as this book tells us, 
and as the prophet Jeremiah has already warned us. 

Here also, it is recorded in this book that we are 
to be rooted out of our land if the covenant is broken ; 
and, this reminds me that the prophet Jeremiah has 
already been appointed to root out, throw down and 
destroy, and therefore this must be another evidence 
showing that the covenant is broken. Also, Jeremiah 
informs us that we are called to account touching all 
our wickedness in that we have forsaken the Lord and 
burned incense unto other gods ; that a trial has been 
instituted against us. Therefore, the institution of 
this trial must be another evidence showing that the 
covenant is broken. Further, we find in this book the 
song of Moses, which is so familiar to all our people ; 
which song, as it was written in the book, was to be a 
witness against us after the covenant is broken. There 
can be no doubt about the authenticity of this song as 
a witness, because our people will readily recognize it 
as identical with the song they have learned from their 
fathers. Therefore, the presence of the written copy 
of this song before us is another and a certain evidence 
showing that the covenant is broken. 

Supposing this to have been a reasonable view of 
the matter as it presented itself to the mind of King 
Josiah, we may very readily understand why he was so 
greatly agitated as the record in IT Kings 82, and in 
II Chronicles 34, indicates, and why he was so prompt 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 117 

in calling the people together in order to renew the 
covenant, as recorded in II Kings 23 : 2 and 3. Also, 
we may readily understand why he was so prompt in 
proceeding to the utter destruction of all forms of idol- 
atry, as related in II Kings 23 : 4 to 21, and also to the 
institution of the Passover, as related in II Kings 23 : 
21 and 22, and, with greater particularity, in II Chron- 
icles 35 : 1 to 20. 



118 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lai 



CHAPTER V. 



THE INIQUITY OF THE END. 

The period of time extending from the appoint- 
ment of Jeremiah and the beginning of the trial, until 
the downfall of the kingdom and the beginning of the 
captivity and desolation, was forty years. 

This period was the time occupied in the process 
of rooting Israel out of their land. The institution of 
the trial was the beginning of the process of rooting 
them out of the land, and the fall of the kingdom and 
the beginning of the desolation was the end of the 
same. 

These forty years seem to have been a marked 
period of time. The scriptures refer to them as a 
critical period in the history of Israel, and yet in a way 
that seems dark and mysterious. In illustration of 
this thought we will refer to the following scriptures: 
See II Kings 21 : 12 : "Therefore thus saith the Lord 
God of Israel, Behold, I am bringing such evil upon 
Jerusalem and Judah, that whosoever heareth of it, 
both his ears shall tingle. And I will stretch over 
Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plumet of the 
house of Ahab ; and I will wipe Jerusalem as a man 
wipetli a dish, wiping it, and turning it upside down. 
And I will forsake the remnant of mine inheritance, 
and deliver them into the hand of their enemies; and 
they shall become a prey and a spoil to all their 
enemies ; because they have done that which was evil 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 119 

in my sight, and have provoked me to anger, since the 
day their fathers came forth out of Egypt, even unto 
this day." 

See also II Kings 22:20 (Leeser's translation): 
''Therefore, behold, I will gather thee unto thy fathers, 
and thou shalt be gathered unto thy grave in peace; 
and thy eyes shall not look on all the evil which I am 
bringing over this place.'*' The thought here would 
seem to be that Josiah would live to see some but not 
all the evil, as it was to continue after his death. The 
words "I "am bringing" also indicate that the time of 
bringing extended back in the past as well as forward 
to the future, and would seem to show that the time 
when the Lord began to bring the evils upon them 
was five years prior to this time when Jeremiah was 
appointed and the covenant broken. As the words 
''all the evil which I am bringing over this place" 
included the desolation of the land, or extended to 
the beginning of the same, therefore the bringing of 
evil upon them would continue until that time. The 
thought that the forty years preceding the captivity 
and the desolation was a marked and a critical period 
in the history of Israel, has been recognized by some 
authorities. We quote from Matthew Henry as fol- 
lows : "Dr. Lightfoot observes, that as Moses was so 
long with the people, a teacher in the wilderness, till 
they entered into their own land ; Jeremiah was so long 
to their own land a teacher before they went into the 
wilderness of the heathen ; and he thinks that therefore 
a special mark is set upon the last forty years of the 
iniquity of Judah, which Ezekiel bore forty days, a 
day for a year, because, during all that time, they had 
Jeremiah prophesying among them, which was a great 
aggravation of their impenitency. God, in this prophet, 
suffered their manners, their ill manners, forty years, 



120 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law 

and at length sware in his wrath that they should 
not continue in his rest." We will now endeavor to 
show that the forty years intervening- between the 
appointment of Jeremiah and the fall of the kingdom 
was the fulfillment of Ezekiel 4 : 6. We quote the 
scripture as follows : ''And when thou hast accom- 
plished them, lie again upon thy right side, and thou 
shalt bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty 
days ; I have appointed thee each day for a year." 

Various theories have been advanced in regard to 
the application of this scripture ; none of them, appar- 
ently, fully satisfactory even to the writers themselves. 
What are we to understand by the words "their 
iniquity" ? 

Ezekiel was commanded to bear the iniquity of 
the house of Israel 390 days, and the iniquity of the 
house of Judah 40 days. The years symbolized by 
these days, 390 years in the first instance, and 40 years 
in the second, were to end with the fall of Jerusalem. 
This thought appears evident from the fact that verses 
J, 2 and 3 refer to the siege of Jerusalem, and verses 
4, 5, 6 and 7 follow in immediate connection with that 
thought, showing clearly that the two periods of time, 
390 and 40 years, were to end with the fall of Jeru- 
salem. 

The thought here would seem to be in regard to 
some special iniquity, some great and marked iniquity 
of more than ordinary importance. The breaking of 
the covenant was the culmination of their iniquity, and 
was, as we will endeavor to show, the iniquity here 
referred to in Ezekiel I : <i. This iniquity, so far as 
the same applied to the kingdom of Judah, dated from 
the appointment of Jeremiah, at which time the trial 
was instituted on account (^i the broken covenant : and 
lliis was forty years before tin fall of Jerusalem. So 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 121 

far as the iniquity applied to the kingdom of Israel, 
the 390 years would date from the time when Jeroboam 
set up the golden calves, one in Bethel and the other 
in Dan. 

Jeroboam began his reign about 393, or not over 
39i years before the fall of King Zedekiah, and the 
golden calves were set up soon after the beginning of 
his reign. Supposing that they were set up within 
three or four years after the beginning of his reign, 
it would be 390 years from that event to the fall 
of the kingdom. The words "the iniquity of the 
end" would seem to refer to some special iniquity, and 
not to iniquity in general. Israel had practiced iniquity 
from time to time all along through the years from the 
days of Moses to the days of Jeremiah, as was foreseen 
by Moses they would do. It was because of this fact 
that a trial was appointed beforehand, and the witness, 
to testify at the trial, prepared. 

See Deut. 31 : 27 : "For I know thy rebellion, and 
thy stiff neck; behold, while I am yet alive with you 
this day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord, and 
how much more after my death ?" Notwithstanding all 
their iniquity, from the days of Moses to the days of 
Jeremiah, the Lord had not deserted them, but remem- 
bered his covenant with them when they truly repented 
of their evil doings and turned unto him. As a sample 
of the scriptures bearing on this thought, see Neh. 9 : 
26 to 31. 

Now, however, in the days of Jeremiah, the time 
had come when, by a long continued course in idolatry, 
they had forfeited all claims to the Lord's protection; 
the covenant was adjudged as broken and the Lord 
forsook them and hid his face from them as he had 
said he would do, in Deut. 31 : 17 and 18, in the day 
when the covenant was broken. The covenant being 



122 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

now broken and the Lord having forsaken them and 
hid his face from them, they must now "bear their 
iniquity,'' or the results of their iniquity, because the 
Lord would no longer respond to their prayers for help. 
Their long continued course in idolatry had at last 
culminated in breaking the covenant, and henceforth 
they must bear the sad results that were to follow that 
event ; which results were that, as prophecied of in 
Deut. 29 : 28, they were to be rooted out of the land, 
and the land was to be made desolate. 

Thus, the breaking of the covenant, marked by the 
appointment of Jeremiah, was the special "iniquity'' 
referred to, and the beginning of the desolation was 
the "end" or result of the "iniquity" ; and, the period 
of forty years intervening between the two events, is 
therefore referred to as the "time of the iniquity of the 
end." The thought in regard to the "iniquity of the 
end" is further set forth as follows. See Ezekiel '21 : 
25 : "And thou profane wicked prince of Israel, whose 
day is come, when iniquity shall have an end." This 
text, as found in the authorized version, if it is to be 
understood just as it reads, would mean that all 
iniquity, of whatever kind, was to end with the down- 
fall of the kingdom. It does not say this iniquity, but 
iniquity, evidently meaning all iniquity, shall have an 
end. Now, as a matter of fact, iniquity did not end 
with the fall of the kingdom and the beginning of the 
desolation of the land, but the special iniquity, the 
iniquity that had culminated in the breaking of the 
covenant, which iniquity was to result in the desola- 
tion of the land, did end, in a certain sense, with the 
fall of the kingdom, because the desolation of the land 
then began, and this was the final result, or penalty, 
that was to follow the breaking of the covenant. So, 
the beginning of the desolation of the land was the 



123 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

"end" of the "iniquity" in the sense of being the pen- 
alty that was to follow as a result of the "iniquity." 

The thought might be more clearly illustrated by 
the following scripture. In Psalms 37:37 we read: 
"Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright ; for 
the end of that man is peace." Now, we do not under- 
stand that peace is literally the end of the upright man, 
but, rather, that peace will follow as a result of a 
perfect or upright life. So, in the scripture under 
consideration, the end of the iniquity was not literally 
the end of iniquity, but it was the result that was to 
follow because of the iniquity ; and this result was the 
captiv-ity and desolation of the land. 

Having seen that the beginning of the desolation of 
the land marks the "end," or result, of the "iniquity," 
then it will be easily seen that the "iniquity" referred 
to was the breaking of the covenant, because the Lord, 
in Deut. 29 : 22 to 26, had expressly informed Moses 
that the desolation of the land would follow as a result 
of the breaking of the covenant. 

As we have before shown, the breaking of the cove- 
nant was the cause and the process of rooting them out 
of their land was the effect. Here the same thought, 
in another form, is true; the "iniquity" (resulting in 
the breaking of the covenant) was the cause, and the 
"end" (or desolation of the land) was the "effect"; 
and so, the words "the iniquity of the end" cover the 
entire period of forty years extending from the appoint- 
ment of Jeremiah to the desolation of the land. 
Leeser's translation of the last named scripture 
(Ezekiel 21:25) reads: "And thou, death-deserving 
wicked one, prince of Israel, whose day is come, at the 
time of the iniquity of the end." The revised version, 
and also Young's translation, read: "In the time of 
the iniquity of the end." This rendering would appear 



124 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

more reasonable and seems to refer both to the begin- 
ning and also to the end of the iniquity. 

This same thought is again referred to in the book 
of Ezekiel. See Ezekiel 35 : 5. Here the Lord, 
speaking of Mount Seir, says : "Because thou hast 
had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the blood of the 
children of Israel by the force of the sword in the time 
of their calamity, in the time that their iniquity had an 
end." The Pulpit Commentary, on this verse, remarks 
as follows : "According to Dr. Currey, in the Speakers 
Commentary, the time when the capture of the city 
put an end to her iniquity; but with more probability, 
according to Hengstenberg, Plumptre and others, the 
time of that iniquity which brought on the end." Here, 
the thought that the "iniquity" spoken of was a special 
iniquity is confirmed by a number of the most learned 
authorities. They say : "The time of that iniquity 
which brought on the end." We are not advised as to 
what these authorities have to say as to what consti- 
tuted the special iniquity, but the iniquity which 
brought on the end, or desolation of the land, could 
have but one reference, and that reference was to the 
breaking of the covenant. This conclusion appears to 
be beyond dispute because the Lord informed Moses 
that the breaking of the covenant would lead to, or 
result in, the "end," or desolation of the land. 

Thus shown, the iniquity symbolized by Ezekiel, 
the iniquity he was commanded to bear, was the 
iniquity that culminated in the breaking of the cove- 
nant, which event was marked by the appointment of 
Jeremiah, and forty years before the fall of the king- 
dom. The Pulpit Commentary, quoting as their 
authority the Hebrew Commentator Kimchi, says that 
the traditional Jewish interpretation of Ezekiel 4:6 is 
that the forty years of the guilt of Judah are to be 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 125 

reckoned from Josiah's reformation. This thought 
appears to be more reasonable than some other 
explanations, but is still unsatisfactory because of the 
differences of opinion as to just when Josiah began his 
reformation. Jeremiah was appointed, and the cove- 
nant was broken, in the thirteenth year of the reign of 
Josiah, which year was within one year of the earliest 
beginning of his reformation ; the same having had its 
beginning in the twelfth year of his reign, as recorded 
in II Chron. 34:3. Therefore, the beginning of the 
reformation of Josiah, and the appointment of Jere- 
miah, both took place within the limits of one year. 
Thus, the views herein set forth are almost in full 
accord with the traditional Jewish view as to the time 
of the beginning of the forty years. 



126 The Broken Covenant and the Booh of the Laze. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE CONCLUSION OF THE TRIAL 
AND THE SENTENCE. 

"And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them 
by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; 
because he had compassion on his people, and on his 
dwelling place ; but they mocked the messengers of 
God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, 
until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, 
till there -cvas no remedy." (II Chron. 36 : 15 and 16.) 

"God's threatenings against nations are for the 
most part conditional, and may be escaped, or at least 
their fulfillment may be deferred indefinitely, by 
repentance, as we learn from the example of Nineveh. 
But if a nation persists long in evil doing, there comes 
a time when the sentence can be no longer averted. 
A real repentance has become impossible, and a mock 
one does but provoke God the more. For such a state 
of things there is no remedy. This was the state of 
things reached by the Jews. God's anger against them 
could not be quenched." 

That a crisis in the history of Israel had at this time 
arrived cannot be doubted. That some great and 
wonderful work had been appointed in the past, and 
that the prophecy relating to the same was now about 
to be fulfilled, will be seen by reference to some of the 
other prophets. See Habakkuk 1:5 and 6: "Rehold 
ye among the heathen, and regard and wonder marvel- 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lazv. 127 

ously; for I will work a work in your days, which ye 
will not believe, though it be told you. For, lo, I raise 
up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty nation, which 
shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess 
the dwelling places that are not their's." 

We note that the Lord here informs the prophet 
that : "I will work a work in your days," etc. The 
"work" referred to, which was the rooting of Israel 
out of their land, to result from the institution of the 
trial, followed very near to the time when Habakkuk 
prophesied, and in all probability while he was yet 
living. 

"For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans," etc. The mean- 
ing is that God, in his providence, would permit that 
bitter and hasty nation to be a scourge to his chosen 
people on account of their transgressions. 

"The Chaldeans, in seeking their own ends, should 
be made to fulfill the divine behests." See also 
Zephaniah 1:2, 3 and 4 : "I will utterly consume all 
things from off the land, saith the Lord. I will 
consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of 
the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling- 
blocks with the wicked ; and I will cut off man from off 
the land, saith the Lord. I will also stretch out mine 
hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem ; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal 
from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with 
the priests." "The prophet (Zephaniah) begins 
abruptly with announcing the judgment upon the whole 
world, upon idolaters, and specially upon Judah for 
its iniquity; he describes the terrible character of this 
judgment, and upon whom it shall fall, viz., the chief- 
tains who effect Gentile habits and oppress others, 
upon the traders who exact usury, upon the faithless 
who have no belief in Divine Providence. Having 



128 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

depicted the day of the Lord, he exhorts the people 
to repentance, and urges the righteous to persevere 
that they may be protected in the time of distress. " 

See Micah 1 : 2 to 6 : ''Hear all ye people ; hearken 
O earth, and all that therein is ; and let the Lord God 
be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. 
For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, 
and will come down, and tread upon the high places of 
the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under 
him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the 
lire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep 
place. For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and 
for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the trans- 
gression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are 
the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?" 

"A very solemn introduction in which the people 
are summoned to draw near and give their attendance, 
as upon a court of judicature; hear all ye people. The 
earth shall be made to shake under the stroke and 
weight of the judgments coming. If the church, and 
those in it, will not hear, the earth, and those in it, 
shall, and shame them. God himself will be a zeitness, 
by the judgments of his hand, against those that would 
not receive his testimony in the judgments of his 
mouth. A terrible prediction of destroying judgments, 
which should come upon Judah and Israel ; which had 
its accomplishment soon after in Israel ; and at length 
in Judah." 

Having seen that a trial was instituted at the time 
when Jeremiah was appointed, and that the trial led 
to the captivity and desolation of the land, we will 
now endeavor to show the progress of the same. The 
accusation, beginning with the second chapter of 
Jeremiah, was against both the kingdom of Israel and 
the kingdom of Judah. We quote fn>m the Expositor's 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 129 

Bible as follows : 'The prophetic discourses, with 
which the book of Jeremiah opens, have a general 
application to all Israel, as is evident not only from the 
ideas expressed in them, but also from the explicit 
address, in verse 4 of chapter 2 : "Hear ye the word 
of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of 
the house of Israel." It is clear enough, that although 
Jeremiah belongs to the southern kingdom, his reflex- 
ions here concern the northern tribes as well, who must 
be included in the comprehensive phrases, "house of 
Jacob and all the families of the house of Israel." 
Again : "All Israel is addressed, not merely the sur- 
viving kingdom of Judah, because the apostasy had 
been universal." Speaking of that portion of the book 
of Jeremiah included from chapter 3 and verse 6, to 
chapter 4 and verse 2, the above authority says : 
"The all Israel of the former discourse is here divided 
into its two sections, which are contrasted with each 
other, and then again considered as a united nation." 
That an accusation is contained in the opening chapters 
of the book of Jeremiah, against Israel and on account 
of their idolatry, has been recognized by different 
authorities. 

The Pulpit Commentary, in its comments on chap- 
ter 2, says : "The indictment of Israel. The chosen 
nation is arraigned in all its generations and in all its 
orders. It is a universal and continuous crime; and 
it ran parallel with a succession of unheard-of mercies, 
deliverances, and favors." Matthew Henry says: 
"The charge drawn up against them is very high, the 
aggravations black, the arguments used for their con- 
viction very close and pressing. The sin which they 
are most particularly charged with here is idolatry, 
forsaking the true God." The Expositor's Bible, in 
its remarks on chapter 2 and verse 1, to chapter 3 and 



130 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

verse 5, says as follows: "Thus the discourse starts 
with impeachment, and ends with irreversible doom. 
Its tone is comminatory throughout ; nowhere do we 
hear, as in other prophecies, the promise of pardon 
in return for penitence." 

This last named authority, in its remarks on chap- 
ters 7 to 10, says : "Jeremiah accuses his countrymen 
of flagrant transgression of the universal laws of 
morality. Theft, murder, perjury, fraud and covet- 
ousness, slander and lying and treachery are charged 
upon these zealous worshippers by a man who lived 
amongst them, and knew them well, and could be 
contradicted at once if his charges were false. He tells 
them plainly that, in virtue of their frequenting it, the 
temple is become a den of robbers. And this trampling 
upon the common rights of man has its counterpart 
and its climax in treason against God, in burning 
incense to Baal and walking after gods whom they 
know not." The scripture included from the beginning 
of the 2nd chapter of Jeremiah to the 6th verse of 
chapter 3, is a continuous accusation. The remainder 
of chapters 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 is a continuation 
of the accusation against Judah and Israel, with calls 
to repentance, and threatenings of punishment to fol- 
low the coming of the Babylonians. In Jer. 1 : 16 the 
Lord said : "And I will utter my judgments against 
them," etc. These "judgments" were spoken against 
Israel by the prophet Jeremiah. See verse 17, as 
follows : "Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, 
and speak unto them all that I command thee." 

Beginning at chapter 2 verse 2, Jeremiah is com- 
manded to go and cry, or proclaim, in the ears of 
Jerusalem the "judgments" before spoken of; in other 
words, the accusation which the Lord here brings 
against them on account of their idolatry which had 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 131 

already culminated in the breaking of the covenant, 
on account of which they are now arraigned for trial. 

Following the accusation, about five years after 
the beginning of the trial, we have, in the 11th chapter 
of Jeremiah, the proclamation of the covenant as a 
witness against them. This covenant, or book of the 
Law, including the written copy of the song, had been 
found in the temple in the 18th year of the reign of 
Josiah, and had already given its testimony in the 
presence of Josiah, and it is now proclaimed by Jere- 
miah before, or in the presence of, all the people of 
Israel as a witness against them, in fulfillment of Deut. 
ol : 21 : "And it shall come to pass when many evils 
and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall 
testify against them (before them or in their presence) 
as a witness." 

As will be noted, the testimony of the song was 
given after the accusation had been made, and was in 
support of the accusation; thus fulfilling Deut. 31 : 19, 
where, as we have seen, the song was to be a witness, 
or to become a witness, for the Lord; or to become a 
witness to } or in support of, the Lord's accusation 
against the children of Israel. 

The book of the Law, at the same time, gave its 
testimony before Israel in fulfillment of Deut. 31 : 26, 
where Moses commanded : "Take this book of the 
Law and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant 
of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a wit- 
ness against thee." Thus, the song testified in their 
presence as a witness in support of the accusation, and 
at the same time formed a part of the book of the Law, 
which book was found and is now proclaimed by Jere- 
miah as a witness against them. 

The accusation having been made, and the testi- 
mony of the song in support of the accusation having 



132 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

been given, in the manner we have indicated, we read 
in Jeremiah 11:9 and 10, after the proclamation of 
the covenant, as follows : "And the Lord said unto 
me, a conspiracy is found (judicially found) among 
the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem." 

As before noted, the words "a conspiracy is found" 
must imply the idea of a judicial search or investiga- 
tion. How else could a conspiracy be found? The 
Lord knew beforehand of the existence of the conspir- 
acy, but it must be judicially found in order to comply 
with the law. 

Speaking of this conspiracy, the Expositor's Bible 
remarks as follows : "But the word further signifies 
that a BOND has been entered into, a bond which is 
the exact antithesis of the covenant with Jehovah ; and 
it implies that this bond has about it a fatal strength 
and permanence, involving as its necessary consequence 
the ruin of the nation. Breaking covenant with 
Jehovah meant making a covenant with other gods ; 
it was impossible to do the one thing without the 
other." Having been found guilty of conspiracy, in 
verse 10 the final result of the trial is announced, as 
follows : "The house of Israel and the house of Judah 
have broken my covenant which I made with their 
fathers." It will be noticed that both the house of 
Israel and the house of Judah are here declared guilty 
of breaking the covenant. Whatever else may or may 
not be true, as to the views herein set forth, we here 
have the indisputable statement from the Lord that 
the covenant is now broken, and that it was broken 
prior to this time. We have seen that the breaking of 
the covenant could not have occurred after the appoint- 
ment of Jeremiah, because the rooting of Israel out 
of the land then began, and the trial was then insti- 
tuted ; and, therefore, to assume that the covenant was 



The Broken Covenant And the Book of the Law. 133 

broken after that time, we would have to conclude that 
the penalty that was to follow the breaking of the cove- 
nant was inflicted before the offense was committed. 

We now come to the fulfillment of another scrip- 
ture in Deut. 31 : 16 to 22. In verse 17 we read: 
"Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that 
day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face 
from them" And again, in verse 18 : "And I will 
surely hide my face in that day" (the day when the 
covenant will be broken). 

Jamieson Fausset and Brown, in their comments on 
this scripture, speak as follows : "An announcement 
of the withdrawal of the Divine favor and protection 
of which the Schechinah was the symbol and pledge. 
It never appeared in the second temple; and its non- 
appearance was a prelude of all the evils that came 
upon them, because their God was not among them." 

Following close after the announcement that the 
covenant is broken, we read in Jer. 12 : 7, as follows : 
"I have forsaken my house, I have left mine heritage; 
I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the 
hand of her enemies." Again, quoting from the Expos- 
itor's Bible, we note the following comment on this 
scripture : "The 'house' is his holy house, the temple ; 
or, perhaps, rather the holy land itself, as Hitzig sug- 
gested." 

Jamieson Fausset and Brown say : "Jehovah will 
forsake his temple and the people peculiarly his." 

Benson here remarks : "I have forsaken my house 
— my temple where I had placed my name. I have 
already withdrawn my favorable regard and presence 
from it, and shall withhold those manifestations of my 
power and goodness, which I have been wont to make 
to the people who come thither to worship me, and I 
will shortly give it up to utter desolation." 



134 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

Having been found guilty of breaking the covenant, 
the Lord now forsakes them and hides his face from 
them in fulfillment of Deut. 31 : 1? and 18. That the 
Lord hid his face from them at or about this time is 
shown as follows : See Jer. 33 : 5 : "I have hid my 
face from this city." See also Ezekiel 39 : 23 to 29 : 
"And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel 
went into captivity for their iniquity ; because they 
trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from 
them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies; 
so fell they all by the sword. According to their 
uncleanness and according to their transgressions have 
I done unto them, and hid my face from them. Thus 
saith the Lord God, Now will I bring again the cap- 
tivity of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house 
of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name. After 
that they have borne their shame and all their tres- 
passes whereby they have trespassed against me, when 
they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them 
afraid. When I have brought them again from the 
people, and gathered them out of their enemies lands, 
and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations ; 
then shall they know that I am the Lord their God, 
which caused them to be lead into captivity among the 
heathen ; but I have gathered them unto their own 
land and have left none of them any more there. 
Neither will I hide my face any more from them ; for 
I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, 
saith the Lord God." In the above quotation we are 
informed that : "The house of Israel went into cap- 
tivity for their iniquity" ; and, because of their in- 
iquity, "therefore hid I my face from them, and gave 
them into the hand of their enemies." \Yc thus see 
that the Lord hid his face from them at some time 
before they were given into the hand of their enemies. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 135 

We will now endeavor to show that the scripture 
in Jer. 12 : 7 marks the time when the Lord hid his 
face from them. 

In the above quotation from Ezekiel 39 : 23, we 
read as follows : "Because they trespassed against me, 
therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into 
the hand of their enemies" We notice, particularly, 
in this scripture, that the Lord first hid his face from 
them and then gave them into the hand of their ene- 
mies. If it had been written that the Lord first gave 
them into the hand of their enemies, and then hid his 
face from them, such a statement would appear entirely 
unreasonable, because, it would appear, he would not 
give them into the hand of their enemies without first 
hiding his face from them. The Lord having hid his 
face from them, the result then followed that they were 
given into the hand of their enemies, as effect follows 
cause. Therefore, if the effect is found, we may know 
that the cause has preceded it. Now, we are not in- 
formed of the precise time when the Lord hid his face 
from them, but we are informed of the precise time 
when they were given into the hand of their enemies, 
and therefore we may know that the Lord hid his face 
from them at or before that time. Therefore, we again 
refer to the scripture, in Jer. 12 : 7, where we read as 
follows: "I have forsaken mine house, I have left 
mine heritage ; / have given the dearly beloved of my 
soul into the hand of her enemies." 

Here, then, they were given into the hand of their 
enemies, and, therefore, the Lord hid his face from 
them at or before this time. It must'have been at this 
time because the covenant had just been declared 
broken (see Jer. 11:10), and, it would appear, the 
Lord would not hide his face from them until after the 
covenant was declared broken. 



136 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

That the finding of the book of the Law, in the 18th 
year of the reign of King Josiah, and the statement in 
Ter. 12 : 7 : "I have given the dearly beloved of my 
soul into the hand of her enemies," marks the time 
when the Lord hid his face from them, in fulfillment 
of Deut. 31 : 17 and 18, seems to be further shown by 
the prophet Ezekiel, as follows : In the first chapter 
of the book of Ezekiel, verse 1, we read as follows : 
"Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the 
fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was 
among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the 
heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God." The 
words, "the heavens were opened, and I saw visions 
of God/' would seem to imply that, for some time 
prior to the time when Ezekiel wrote, "the heavens" 
had been closed, and that "visions of God" had been 
denied to Israel. What are we to understand by the 
words "the thirtieth year"? Ezekiel evidently refers 
to some event or events that happened in the thirtieth 
year prior to the beginning of his prophecy. Some 
authorities claim that the event referred to was the 
ascension of Nabopolassar to the throne of Babylon. 
Others, that it referred to the thirtieth year of the life 
of Ezekiel. But Josephus informs us that Ezekiel, 
when taken into captivity, which event occurred five 
years before the beginning of his prophecy, was at 
that time but a youth. 

Again, others claim that the reference was to the 
discovery of the book of the Law. The thirtieth year 
from the beginning of the prophecy of Ezekiel would 
reach back to the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah, 
when, as we have seen, the book of the Law was 
found. The reign of Nabopolassar also began in that 
same year ; and, if Ezekiel here referred to the years 
of his life, he was born in that same vear. 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 137 

Each of the above named theories has had its advo- 
cates, but it appears that the authorities have never 
been able to agree upon any one explanation. The 
thought that the reference was to the finding of the 
book of the Law seems to be the most satisfactory 
explantion of the three, and appears to be supported 
by the most ancient authority, the Targum. Quoting 
from the Commentary of Matthew Henry, regarding 
this thought, we read as follows: "But the Chaldee 
paraphrase fixes upon another era, and says that this 
was the thirtieth year after Hilkiah the priest found 
the book of the Law in the house of the Lord, at mid- 
night, after the setting of the moon, in the days of 
Josiah the king." As we will endeavor to show, the 
reference was to the finding of the book of the Law, 
but only indirectly. 

The immediate reference was to the forsaking of 
them by the Lord, and the hiding of his face from 
them, in fulfillment of Deut. 31: 17 and 18, which 
was connected with the finding of the book of the Law, 
and which, as before shown, was marked by the scrip- 
ture in Jer. 12:7 as follows : "I have forsaken my 
house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the 
dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her ene- 
mies." This event, presumably, was in the eighteenth 
year of the reign of Josiah, and at the beginning of the 
thirty years referred to by Ezekiel. The words, "in 
the thirtieth year," evidently point backward to some 
event that occurred at the beginning of the thirty 
years ; to some event that in some way was connected 
with the events that Ezekiel was now, at the end of 
the thirty years, about to write down. 

In other words, it seems quite reasonable to sup- 
pose that the beginning of the prophecy of Ezekiel was 
somewhat like the continuation of a narrative; and, 



138 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

that the words, "in the thirteenth year/' point back- 
ward to a former chapter of that same narrative. This 
thought is further indicated by the word "Now," which 
as is remarked by some of the authorities, ''links itself 
on to something that has gone before" ; as though 
Ezekiel had said : Now in the thirtieth year after the 
events of the last chapter, etc. 

Looking at the question from this point of view, 
we enquire what was the event or events referred to? 
We answer, first, that, whatever the event or events 
may have been, they must have been such events as 
would be in harmony with the events recorded by the 
prophet here in Ezekiel 1:1; because the scripture 
here recorded by Ezekiel could not "link itself on to 
something that had gone before," unless the former 
event was in harmony with the latter events. There- 
fore, if we first determine the events that the prophet 
is here, in Ezekiel 1 : 1, writing about, then we ought 
to be able to determine somewhat as to the nature of 
the events that occurred thirty years earlier, just as 
the reading of the second chapter of a narrative would 
enable us to determine somewhat as to the contents of 
the first. Our knowledge of the first chapter, thus 
gained, would be verv fragmentary and imperfect, but 
we would be enabled to know something as to what 
the contents of the first chapter must be in order to be 
in harmony with the second chapter. Considering the 
scripture of Ezekiel 1 : 1 from this standpoint, we 
enquire, what connection could there be between the 
events here spoken of and the ascension of Nabopolas- 
sar to the throne of Babylon? Or, how could the 
events referred to in Ezekiel 1 : 1 "link themselves on 
to" the ascension of Nabopolassar ? We reply that 
Ezekiel is here writing about "visions of God," and 
tin's thought Iris no connection with the ascension of 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. J39 

Nabopolassar. If it was merely a question of date, it 
might be possible that the reference was to the begin 
ning of the reign of Nabopolassar, but Ezekiel says* 
"Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year that the 
heavens zvere opened, and I saw visions of God." 

The "visions of God," and the tnought that the 
"heavens were opened," therefore, ought also to "link 
itself on to something that has gone before," as well 
as the date spoken of. The same thought is true as to 
the years of his life. The years of his life have noth- 
ing whatever to do with the vision seen by Ezekiel. 
The discovery of the book of the Law, the breaking of 
the covenant, the trial, the announcement that the cove- 
nant was broken, and, lastly, the result that followed, 
as recorded in Jer. 12 : 7, has a very close connection 
with the scripture of Ezekiel 1 : 1, and shows a com- 
plete harmony that cannot be otherwise found. 

This connection is shown as follows : First, it was 
thirty years from the discovery of the book of the Law, 
the proclamation of the same, the announcement that 
the covenant was broken, and the statement in Jer. 
12:7 that the Lord had forsaken his house, and left his 
heritage, etc., until the beginning of the prophecy of 
Ezekiel. Secondly, Ezekiel says "the heavens were 
opened." This statement would seem to imply that, 
at the beginning of the thirty years, the heavens had 
been closed; and, this was true because the Lord, in 
Deut. 31 : 17 and 18, had said that in the day when 
the covenant was broken he would surely hide his face 
from them and forsake them. Therefore, the covenant 
being now broken, the time for the Lord to forsake 
them and hide his face from them had come, and the 
Lord having said, in Jer. 12 : 7, that he had forsaken 
his house, and left his heritage, etc., we may know 
that the heavens were now closed against them. 



140 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Lc 

Therefore, the statement by Ezekiel that "the 
heavens were opened" would "link itself on to" the 
thought that thirty years prior to the beginning of his 
prophecy the heavens nad been closed. 

This same thought appears to be set forth by the 
prophet Micah, chapter 3, verses 4 to 8. Here the 
prophet Micah, one hundred years or more before the 
days of Ezekiel, referring to a time then future, to the 
time when the Lord's face would be hid from them, 
which time was in the day when the covenant would 
be broken, says as follows : "Then shall they cry unto 
the Lord, but he will not hear them ; he will even hide 
his face from them at that time, as they have behaved 
themselves ill in their doings. Thus saith the Lord 
concerning the prophets that make my people err, that 
bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace ; and he that put- 
teth not into their mouths, they even prepare war 
against him. Therefore night shall be unto you, that 
ye shall not have a vision ; and it shall be dark unto 
you, that ye shall not divine ; and the sun shall go 
down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over 
them. Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the divin- 
ers confounded ; yea they shall all cover their lips ; 
for there is no answer of God." 

That the foregoing prophecy of Micah was here 
fulfilled is further shown by the writer of the book of 
Lamentations. See chapter 2, verse 1 : "How hath 
the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud 
in his anger, and cast down from heaven unto the 
earth the beauty of Israel, and remembered not Jiis 
footstool in the day of his anger!" 

Our authorities say : "The ark was regarded as 
God's footstool. When the temple was destroyed and 
the ark stolen, or broken, or lost, it looked as though 
God had forgotten his footstool. The Lord hath not 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 141 

spared even the ark itself, the footstool of the Shech- 
inah, or Divine glory, which was wont to appeal- 
sitting, as it were, enthroned upon the mercy-seat, 
between the cherubim." The Lord had "forsaken his 
house and left his heritage," and, it would appear, the 
symbol of his presence had also departed. 

In Lamentations 2 : 9, we find another confirmation 
of the prophecy of Micah : "Her kings and her princes 
are among the Gentiles ; the law is no more ; her 
prophets also find no vision from the Lord." Here, 
after the fall of the kingdom, we are informed that 
there was "no vision from the Lord." Benson says : 
"It is probable that the captive Jews had been left 
some time without prophets or visions from God." 

By reason of the foregoing thoughts, we might 
paraphrase the scripture of Ezekiel 1 : 1 to read as fol- 
lows : "Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year after 
the Lord had forsaken us and hid his face from us, in 
the thirtieth year after the heavens were closed against 
us, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of 
God." The thought that there had been no visions of 
God during the preceding thirty years seems to be 
shown by the third verse of Ezekiel 1. Here we are 
informed that : "The word of the Lord came expressly 
unto Ezekiel." The word "expressly," here used, we 
are informed, means "assuredly," certainly. The word 
of the Lord now came "assuredly" to Ezekiel; as 
though the visions, or so called visions from the Lord, 
prior to this time, were not true visions ; but now the 
word of the Lord "assuredly" comes to Ezekiel. There 
was no longer any doubt about it. Former visions, or 
so called visions, may have been questionable, but this 
one to Ezekiel is assuredly true. This would seem to 
imply that during the thirty years prior to the time 



142 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Laze. 

when Ezekiel wrote, there had been no true visions of 
God. 

We next enquire as to the "vision of God," the 
visions spoken of by the prophet Ezekiel. What were 
they? The visions were in regard to the departure 
of the Divine glory, the Shechinah, from the temple 
at Jerusalem. 

The departure of the Divine glory from the temple 
is referred to in Ezekiel 1:4 as follows : "And I 
looked, and, behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, 
a great cloud, and a fire infolding itself, and a bright- 
ness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the 
color of amber, out of the midst of the fire." This 
vision, as is claimed by the Pulpit Commentary, was 
a symbol of the departure of the Divine glory from the 
temple. 

We quote the comments of the above verse, as fol- 
lows : "What, we ask, was the meaning of this sym- 
bolism ? In Jer. 1 : 13 and 14 a like symbol is explained 
as meaning that the judgments that Judah was to 
suffer were to come from the north, that is, from 
Chaldea, upon the prophet's countrymen. Here the 
prophet himself is in Chaldea, and what he sees is the 
symbol, not of calamities, but of the Divine glory, and 
that explanation is, accordingly, inapplicable. Proba- 
bly the leading thought here is that the Divine presence 
is no longer in the temple at Jerusalem. It may return 
for a time to execute judgment and may again depart, 
but the abiding glory is elsewhere, and the temple is 
as Shiloh had been of old." (Jer. I: 12 to 11.) 

Relating to this same thought, the departure of the 
Divine glory from the temple, see Ezekiel 8 : G : "He 
said furthermore unto me, Son of man, seest thou what 
they do? even the great abominations that the house 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 143 

of Israel committeth here, that I should go far oft' from 
my sanctuary?" 

Again quoting from the Commentary on the last 
named verse, we read: "The lesson taught was that 
already implied in the fact that the glorious vision had 
come to him from the north. ( Chap. 1:4.) The tem- 
ple was already as a God-deserted shrine. His coming 
to it now was but the coming of the Judge and the 
Destroyer." On the authority of the Commentary, 
therefore, the Divine presence had already departed 
from the temple when Ezekiel saw the vision. There- 
fore, the words "in the thirtieth year" would appear to 
refer to the time when the departure took place. In 
other words, Ezekiel saw in vision what had occurred 
in the thirtieth year prior to the time when he wrote. 

Regarding the. departure of the glory of the Lord 
from the temple, see Ezekiel 10 : 18 and 19 : "Then 
the glory of the Lord departed from off the threshold 
of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the 
cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from 
the earth in my sight." 

Here the Commentary speaks as follows : "The 
Chariot-throne was, as it were, ready for its kingly 
Rider. The 'glory' cloud, or Shechinah, takes its place 
over them, and the departure begins. From that hour 
the temple was, in Ezekiel's thoughts, to be, till the 
time of restoration contemplated in chapters 40 to 48, 
what Shiloh had been, a God-deserted place." 

Again see Ezekiel 11 : 22 and 23 : "Then did the 
cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside 
them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over 
them above. And the glory of the Lord went up from 
the midst of the city." Here, the Commentary speaks 
as follows : "Another stage of the departure of the 
Divine glory closes the vision. It had rested over the 



144 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

middle of the city. It now halts over the mountain 
on the east side of the city. Mount of Olives. Curry 
mentions, but without reference, a Jewish tradition that 
the Shechinah, or glory-cloud, remained there for three 
years, calling the people to repentance. Here, per- 
haps, the dominant thought was that it remained for a 
time to direct the work of judgment/' 

The "visions" seen by Ezekiel, therefore, were vis- 
ions of the departure of the Divine glory, or Shechinah, 
from the temple ; which departure had taken place in 
the thirtieth year before he began his prophecy. Thus, 
the 'Visions" of Ezekiel 1 : 1 "link on to something 
that had gone before." In other words, the departure 
of the Divine glory, or Shechinah, took place in the 
eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, and in 
the thirtieth year after that time Ezekiel saw a vision 
of the same. 

Coming back now to the completion of the trial, and 
the beginning of the sentence, we note that Israel, in 
jer. 11:10, was declared guilty of breaking the 
covenant. 

We next come to the sentence and the execution 
thereof. 

Immediately following the statement in verse 10, 
that the covenant was now broken, the sentence begins. 
Beginning at verse 11, we read as follows: Therefore, 
(because they have broken the covenant) thus saith 
the Lord: "Behold, I will bring evil upon them which 
they shall not be able to escape, and though they shall 
cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. Then shall 
the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem 
go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer 
incense; but they shall not save them at all in the time 
of their trouble. For according to the number of thy 
cities were thy gods, < I Judah ; and according to the 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 145 

number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up alters 
to that shameful thing-, even alters to burn incense unto 
Baal. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither 
lift up a cry or prayer for them; for I will not hear 
them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble. 
What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she 
hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh 
is passed from thee? when thou doest evil then thou 
rejoicest. The Lord called thy name, A green olive 
tree, fair and of goodly fruit ; with the noise of a great 
tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of 
it are broken. For the Lord of hosts, that planted 
thee, hath pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of 
the house of Israel and the house of Judah, which they 
have done against themselves to provoke me to anger 
in offering incense unto Baal." 

See chapter 12 : 7 to 14. See also chapter 13 : 1 
to 27. Here we read of the Linen girdle, symbolic 
of a former close relationship to the Lord, but now 
they are defiled and cast off. Also, their destruction 
is prefigured. See also chapter 14: 10 to 22. Here 
the Lord says, in verses 11 and 12 : "Then said the 
Lord unto me, pray not for this people for their good. 
When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when 
they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not 
accept them; but I will consume them by the sword, 
and by the famine, and by the pestilence." 

In chapter 15, the Lord, in further reply to the 
prayer of Jeremiah, in verses 1 to 8, says as follows : 
"Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and 
Samuel stood before me, yet my mind (favour) could 
not be toward this people ; cast them out of my sight 
and let them go forth. And it shall come to pass, if 
they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then 
shalt thou tell them, Thus saith the Lord : Such as are 



146 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the I. 

for death, to death ; and such as are for the sword, to 
the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the 
famine ; and such as are for the captivity, to the captiv- 
ity. And I will appoint over them four kinds, saith the 
Lord ; the sword to slay, and the dogs to tear, and the 
fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the earth, to 
devour and destroy. And I will cause them to be 
removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, because of 
Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that 
which he did in Jerusalem. For who shall have pity 
upon thee O Jerusalem or who shall bemoan thee? or 
who shall go aside to ask how thou doest ? Thou hast 
forsaken me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward ; 
therefore will I stretch out my hand against thee, and 
destroy thee; I am weary with repenting." 

See also chapter 15 : verses 8 to 15. See chapter 
16: verses 1 to 14. Also chapter 17: verses 1 to 5. 
Also chapter 18 : verses 11 to 18. See also, all of chap- 
ter 19, where, under the type of breaking a potter's 
vessel, their destruction is foreshown. 

In chapter 20 : verses 4, 5 and 6, we again read of 
the sentence, and also of the agency whereby the sen- 
tence was to be carried into effect : "And I will give all 
Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he 
shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay 
them with the sword. Moreover I will deliver all the 
strength of this city, and all the labours thereof, and 
all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of 
the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of their 
enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and 
carry them to Babylon." 

Again, in chapter 21 : verses 3 to 8 : "Then said 
Jeremiah unto them, Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah : 
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel : Behold, I will turn 
back the weapons of war that are in your hands, 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 147 

wherewith ye fight against the king of Babylon, and 
against the Chaldeans which besiege you without the 
walls, and I will assemble them into the midst of this 
city. And I myself will fight against you with an out- 
stretched hand and with a strong arm, even in anger, 
and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite the 
inhabitants of the city, both man and beast ; they shall 
die of a great pestilence. x\nd afterward, saith the 
Lord, I will deliver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his 
servants, and the people, and such as are left in this 
city from the pestilence, from the sword, and from the 
famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of 
Babylon, and into the hand of their enemies, and into 
the hand of those that seek their life ; and he shall 
smite them with the edge of the sword ; he shall not 
spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy." 

See also chapter 21 : verses 8 to 14. See chapter 
22 : verses 6 to 30. In verses 24 and 25 we read as fol- 
lows : "As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the 
son of Jehoiachim king of Judah were the signet upon 
my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; and I 
will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, 
and into the hand of them whose face thou fearest, 
even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Baby- 
lon, and into the hands of the Chaldeans." 

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, was the agent 
or the servant of the Lord in the execution of this sen- 
tence. In the 1st chapter of Jeremiah, verse 15, we 
read as follows : 'Tor, lo, I will call all the families 
of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord ; and they 
shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at 
the entering -of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all 
the walls thereof round about, and against all the cities 
of Judah." Here, at the beginning of the trial, the 
Lord had called all the families of the north, alluding 



148 The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 

to the kingdom of Babylon, as his agent, or as else- 
where referred to, "my servant" in the work of carry- 
ing into effect this sentence. 

The Pulpit Commentary, in its comments on Jer. 
.1 : verse 15, and in regard to the words "I will call," 
remarks as follows: "Literally, I am calling." Here 
then, the Lord was then calling all the families of the 
kingdoms of the north, and the means, whereby the 
sentence to be pronounced against Israel was to be 
carried into effect, was already provided. The Power 
or kingdom above referred to as "all the families of 
the kingdoms of the north," it appears to be generally 
agreed, was the kingdom of Babylon. The kingdom 
-of Babylon being the kingdom referred to, we may 
readily understand the words "my servant" as applied 
by the Lord, in several places in the book of Jeremiah, 
to Nebuchadnezzar. 

See Jeremiah 25 : verse 9 : "Behold, I will send 
and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, 
and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, 
and will bring them against this land, and against the 
inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round 
about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them 
an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual deso- 
lations." 

Also, see Jer. 27 : verse 6 : "And now I have given 
all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the 
king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the 
field have I given him also to serve him." 

See also Jer. 43 : verse 10 : "And say unto them, 
thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Be- 
hold, I will send and take Xdmehadnezzar the king of 
Babylon, my servant and will set his throne upon these 
Stones that 1 have hid: and he shall spread his royal 
pavilion over them." 



The Broken Covenant and the Book of the Law. 149 

Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, thus appears 
to have been the "servant" of the Lord, or agent, for 
the purpose of carrying into effect the sentence pro- 
nounced against Israel. The execution of the sentence, 
so far as Nebuchadnezzar had to do with it, was com- 
pleted in the fall of the kingdom of Israel in the days 
of King Zedekiah and the beginning of the captivity. 

The commission given to Jeremiah to "root out, to 
pull down, to destroy, and to throw down," as the same 
applied to the kingdom of Israel, was then completed. 
In the 25th chapter, and in other chapters of Jeremiah, 
we are informed of his mission to "root out, to throw 
down, to destroy," etc., as the same applies to other 
nations. Also, of his mission "to build and to plant." 
"The Lord hath done that which he hath devised; he 
hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in the 
days of old ; he hath thrown down, and hath not pitied ; 
and he hath caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, he 
hath set up the horn of thine adversaries." (Lamenta- 
tions 2 : verse 17.) 



"A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth ; 
for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he 
will plead with all flesh; he will give them that are 
wicked to the sword, saith the Lord. Thus saith the 
Lord of hosts, Behold, evil shall go forth from nation 
to nation, and a great whirlwind shall be raised up 
from the coasts of the earth. And the slain of the 
Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth 
even unto the other end of the earth." (Jeremiah 25 : 
verses 31, 32 and 33.) 



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